October 12, 2010

The owner of a Harvey’s Lake settlement company pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to stealing nearly $2 million from 92 victims over a three-year period.

Elizabeth Sichler, 58, owner of Priority Search Inc., failed to pay various obligations associated with real estate transactions that her company handled as a title agent between 2005 and 2008.

According to court documents, Sichler failed to pay sellers’ first and second mortgages, sellers’ cash proceeds, utility bills, property taxes, real estate transfer taxes, filing fees and title insurance premiums.

Instead, she used the funds dedicated for those purposes for personal gain and to cover operating expenses for her business, including employee salaries and benefits.

Sichler, who was charged in June, entered her guilty plea on wire fraud charges Tuesday before United States District Court Magistrate Judge Malachy E. Mannion.

She faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a maximum of three years supervised release.