Merryman owned over 60 properties and was convicted on wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and race-based interference with housing and employment
David Merryman, a 59-year-old Virginia man, has been sentenced to almost 20 years in prison for harassing Black tenants with racial slurs when they lived in his properties and stealing their identities to cash in and make requests for COVID relief funds.
Merryman has been sentenced to 17 years in prison on the charges of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and race-based interference with housing and employment for his behavior at over 60 different rental properties in the Newport and Hampton area.
According to prosecutors, Merryman “fraudulently obtained large initial payments in the form of security deposits, prepaid rent, and other fees for rental homes that were in poor repair” between 2019 and January of this year. After obtaining information about the tenants and stealing their payments, he would attempt to evict them quickly to get in new tenants to scam.