Sherry Freebery, a former chief administrative officer of New Castle County, Delaware, pled guilty to making false statements in a mortgage loan application.

As previously reported on Mortgage Fraud Blog, a Delaware grand jury issued a superseding indictment on the wire fraud charges against Freebery. A mistrial was declared after a federal jury hung, 10-2 in favor of conviction, and was unable to reach a verdict. The trial was held in Pennsylvania due to a change of venue.

Freebery was accused of failing to disclose a $2.3 million loan in connection with mortgage applications concerning two separate properties. Freebery's lawyers claimed that the money was actually a gift from DuPont heiress Lisa Dean Moseley even though Freebery signed a promissory note and made two interest payments on the alleged loan.

The seven count superseding indictment included five counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and one count of making false statements to a federally insured financial institution.

The superseding indictment came after Freebery's motion for an acquittal based on the jury's failure to reach a verdict. The judge denied Freebery's motion for acquittal, hence the charges related to the loan fraud remained viable and the government was able to retry Freebery on the charges.

The superseding indictment specifically addressed many of the problems alleged by Freebery's lawyers to exist within the original indictment and issues brought to the attention of prosecutors by jury members after the mistrial was declared.