Disbarred Naperville attorney sentenced in mortgage scheme

A disbarred Naperville attorney received a near 5-year prison sentence Thursday for her role in a mortgage scheme that cost lenders and homeowners she worked with more than $725,000.

Avalon Betts-Gaston, 47, received a 57-month prison sentence. Additionally, Betts-Gaston was ordered to repay nearly $240,000. A federal jury convicted her of fraud last year.

Prosecutors said Betts-Gaston was supposed to help at-risk homeowners refinance their loans, but instead she and a cohort arranged for properties to be sold to a straw buyer using mortgages from fake applications. The transaction eliminated the homeowners' legal rights to the properties and allowed Betts-Gaston and another woman who handled the mortgages to obtain all the properties' equity.

The other woman, Dimona Ross, pleaded guilty to her part in the scheme and is awaiting sentencing.