City Man Who Fraudulently Obtained Titles to Multiple Philadelphia Properties Sentenced to Six Years in Prison

PHILADELPHIA – United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Macangelo Tillman, 52, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe to 72 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and over $150,000 in restitution, in connection with a scheme to steal the title to Philadelphia properties that were the subject of future sheriff’s sales.

In December 2023, Tillman was charged by indictment with five counts of wire fraud arising from the scheme. He pleaded guilty to those charges in March of this year.

As detailed in court filings and statements, as part of the scheme, the defendant had deeds prepared that fraudulently transferred the ownership of the properties either to himself or his associates. Then, Tillman or others associated with him and acting at his direction, recorded those deeds with the City of Philadelphia.

The defendant obtained notary stamps on deeds that were created to transfer title to properties by making false statements to notaries and/or using unauthentic notary stamps. He paid one notary public $50 to illegitimately notarize deeds that were purportedly executed by the grantor, without the grantors being present and/or without validating the identification for the grantors. He had a second notary do the same, as a favor to him. On other occasions, counterfeit deeds that were presented as legitimate to the Office of the Recorder of Deeds by Tillman, or others at his direction, displayed the forged signatures of the titleholders and were notarized using fraudulent notary stamps.

Tillman’s scheme victimized the City of Philadelphia, as well as 11 homeowners or their heirs. His criminal acts deprived the City of the revenue from sheriff’s sales, and the payment of outstanding taxes related to properties previously owned by deceased individuals, or then currently owned by financially distressed individuals. Additionally, any balance exceeding the amount due the City of Philadelphia from the proposed sheriff’s sales would have been distributed to the homeowner or their heirs.

Tillman’s scheme was motivated by his own, and his associates’, financial gain. Some of the stolen homes were rented, and others were sold to buyers who had no idea they were purchasing properties that had been acquired fraudulently.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anita Eve.