Houston city controller seeks leniency for con man

Houston city controller seeks leniency for con man


Lise Olsen and Chris Mora, Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

By Lise Olsen and Chris Moran

Updated 9:14 a.m., Monday, August 13, 2012

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Hide . Darlene Sims holds a picture of her parents Mattie Catherine Sims and Theodore Sims Sr., Aug. 10, 2012, in Houston as she talks about property that was stolen from her family.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, . / © 2012 Houston Chronicle Darlene Sims holds a picture of her parents Mattie Catherine Sims...

Houston Developer Dwayne Jordon (cq) in front of on of his many developments in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Houston Texas, Thursday, January 11, 2007. (BILLY SMITH II/STAFF)

Photo: Billy Smith II, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Houston Developer Dwayne Jordon (cq) in front of on of his many...

City Controller, Ronald Green waves to the crowd during the ceremonial and public swearing in of Mayor Annise Parker and the rest of the Houston City Council members, Jan. 4, 2010, at the Wortham Theater in Houston. ( Karen Warren / Chronicle )

Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle City Controller, Ronald Green waves to the crowd during the...

Siblings Genevieve and Levite Renfro are among Dwayne Jordon's victims. Their mother died fighting one of his scams.

Photo: Nick De La Torre / © 2012 Houston Chronicle Siblings Genevieve and Levite Renfro are among Dwayne Jordon's...

Houston developer Dwayne Jordon puts his horse back in his stables off Alvin in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Houston, Jan. 11, 2007. (BILLY SMITH II/STAFF)

Photo: Billy Smith II, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Houston developer Dwayne Jordon puts his horse back in his stables...

Ronald Green stops to shake hands with a voter as he and his son, Christopher make their way into Thompson Elementary School to vote Dec. 12, 2009, in Houston. ( Karen Warren / Chronicle )

Photo: Karen Warren, Houston Chronicle / Houston Chronicle Ronald Green stops to shake hands with a voter as he and his son,...

Genevieve Renfro shows forged documents used by real estate thieves who were developing land owned by her mother and aunt.

Photo: Nick De La Torre, Houston Chronicle / © 2012 Houston Chronicle Genevieve Renfro shows forged documents used by real estate thieves...



View Real Estate Stolen in Scam in a full screen map

/ HC Genevieve Renfro talks about how her mother and great-aunt fought to keep their property from a major real estate scam. / Houston Chronicle City Controller Ronald Green's duties include briefing the City Council on municipal finances, but records show Green has had his own financial problems.

Photo: Mayra Beltran / © 2012 Houston Chronicle City Controller Ronald Green's duties include briefing the City...

Interactive map: Real estate stolen in scam

Graphic: Stolen properties in Sunnyside

Video: Houston family fights to keep their property



Ron Green and Dwayne Jordon: A timeline

• 2003 Green, newly elected to the Houston City Council, spends $150,000 trying to remodel his River­side Terrace house but can't afford to finish; it sits uninhabitable.

• 2006 Green nearly loses house to foreclosure.

• 2007 Green and wife are living in rental home and meet Jordon, who is renovating the house next door.

• 2008 Green obtains $508,000 bank loan to finish renovations on his Riverside Terrace home; Jordon is the builder named in the contract submitted to the bank.

• 2009 Jordon is targeted in criminal probe and hires Green, campaigning for city controller, as his first defense attorney.

• 2009 Jordon is indicted for theft of properties from 2005-2007.

• 2010 Jordon is charged with fraud in obtaining 2008 construction loans; case pending.

• 2011 Jordon pleads guilty to felony theft in property scams.

• 2012 Green testifies as Jordon's character witness; sentencing set for Aug. 24.

Source: Court records and interviews







(Page 1 of 2)

City Controller Ron Green, Houston's top elected money manager and self-described watchdog, is seeking leniency for a five-time convicted felon and contractor who masterminded an elaborate real estate and forgery scam targeting the city's historically African-American neighborhoods.



Green is asking a judge for probation for his friend and former next-door neighbor Dwayne K. Jordon, a rogue developer who pleaded guilty to felony theft. According to indictments, Jordon pilfered 23 Houston properties from different owners and then duped unsuspecting buyers into purchasing homes built on stolen ground.



The ex-con contractor and the city controller have known each other about five years, the same period, according to a Houston Chronicle review of dozens of court records and related real estate documents, that Jordon carried out the series of land thefts, mortgage frauds and deed scams.



Harris County prosecutors want a 25-year sentence for Jordon, who has a long string of prior convictions, including kidnapping, armed robbery and illegal possession of drugs and firearms. Along with a business partner, Jordon executed the contracting scheme by forging deeds of sale on mostly vacant properties and profiting from his illegally built homes, indictments say.



Green - who owes $112,000 to the IRS and nearly lost his house to foreclosure in 2006 - has described the 46-year-old Jordon as a hardworking businessman who renovated Green's own home. In fact, Jordon's contract for the renovations helped Green get a new $508,000 home loan in 2008.



Acting as a character witness, Green told a judge in March that Jordon raised money to buy turkeys for the poor, performed high quality construction and "worked very hard to really try to change the face of that Sunnyside community in which he lives."



Constituents stunned



Green told the Chronicle that Jordon deserves his freedom and a chance to repay his victims.



He said Jordon's houses had a positive impact on the neighborhood by improving land that formerly had been "mostly weeded lots," though Green conceded Jordon's acquisition methods were "obviously not the best approach."



Victims of the property pilfering say they are stunned to see Green stand up for a man who ripped off people Green was elected to protect.



"It makes my heart hurt and it makes me sick to my stomach," said Darlene Sims, a native Houstonian whose family land was stolen and whose father's fruit and pecan trees were bulldozed in the scam.



The controller said his association with Jordon sprang from serendipity.



Green and his wife and law partner, Hilary Green, had nearly lost their home in Riverside Terrace to a public auction when they first met Jordon in 2007, Harris County documents show.



The Greens were renting a house in the same neighborhood because they had been unable to finish a major renovation on their own home on Parkwood Drive despite getting a loan of $150,000 in 2003.



The couple was rife with debt, repairs cost more than expected and for years their house remained uninhabitable, Green said.



Meanwhile, Jordon's business was booming.



He impressed the Greens by renovating the house next door to their rental - turning a long-neglected two-story brick house on Charleston Street into a half-million-dollar showplace with gleaming floors and granite countertops, the latest appliances, a pool and Jacuzzi, professional landscaping, and a state-of-the-art burglar alarm. Jordon filled his place with flat-screen televisions and luxury automobiles.



Records show Jordon and his girlfriend acquired the property legitimately.



New friend, new loan



Meeting Jordon changed the Greens' luck with their house.



Both Greens are elected public servants. Ron Green, considered the city's second most powerful elected official, makes $139,426; Hilary Green makes $120,235 as a justice of the peace in Precinct 7.



Despite a history of delinquent house payments and unpaid taxes, the couple in March 2008 obtained a new loan from their bank for $508,000 - three times the assessed value of the house, Harris County Appraisal District records show. As part of securing that loan, Jordon agreed in a contract to perform about $205,000 in renovations, according to documents filed with the county.



The Greens used the loan partly to pay Jordon and partly to pay off the lender who had threatened to foreclose in 2006.



Though the Greens are both experienced attorneys, Ron Green said he did no background check before hiring Jordon and knew nothing of his neighbor's criminal history.



Jordon began his construction business, E. Jordon Inc., in August 2004, the same week he finished his most recent state prison sentence of five years for a felony firearms offense. He remained on probation as he carried out the real estate scams, records show.



Green says Jordon did an outstanding job on their remodel, and the couple moved into their newly refurbished house in late 2008.



Even so, Green told the Chronicle their house is not worth as much as they still owe the bank. The Greens' financial woes were compounded in 2009 when the IRS filed three tax liens claiming they owed $260,000 in unpaid income taxes from 2002 through 2008. Green said he and his wife have worked the debt down to about $112,000.



Some of Green's tax debts became public during his 2009 campaign for office. That same year, Green said, he first learned about Jordon's involvement in real estate scams. Jordon hired Green to represent him as his criminal defense attorney in a probe by the Harris County District Attorney's Office into complaints from property owners and buyers.



Green met with the DA on Jordon's behalf but later referred the case to another attorney because Green said he was too busy campaigning for the job of city controller. Green refused to disclose the amount Jordon paid him for legal fees in 2009.



But even while out on bond, Jordon allegedly continued to rip off banks and fool title companies and consumers by concocting more forgeries, according to civil suits and yet another pending felony criminal bank fraud case filed in 2010.



Unwavering support



Despite all of the revelations about their former neighbor, both Green and his wife have continued to support Jordon and his current bid for deferred prosecution, attending a March hearing to support his case before Harris County District Judge David Mendoza.



Sentencing is expected later this month.



Green told the Chronicle he's written letters as a city official for other constituents accused of crimes, but never testified as a character witness for an ex-client or constituent.



"I didn't say he wasn't guilty, I just felt the judge should see (another) part of him," Green said.



He said he was not paid for the 2012 testimony.



"I didn't testify as the controller," Green said. "This is the only one I've testified for - like I would do for anybody else if I felt the punishment didn't fit the crime."



Sims, whose family land was taken by Jordon, says she once admired Green as a public servant but won't support him again. Sims doesn't understand why the city controller believes Jordon will repay his victims. A deadbeat dad and con man, Jordon has never paid the Sims family any of the $225,000 a jury awarded them after finding that his company, E. Jordon Inc., stole their land by forging Darlene Sims' dead parents' signatures on a fake deed, according to court records.



"He didn't pay and he has no regard for the families he has harmed," Sims said.



lise.olsen@chron.com



chris.moran@chron.com

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