A Virginia man who tried to buy St. Augustine's Conch House Marina Resort while he was under indictment, and later imprisoned, for fraud is back in federal prison for obstruction of justice.
U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon in Lynchburg, Va., sentenced Thomas E. Coghill Jr. to 30 months in prison.
The judge recommended that Coghill be given "appropriate mental heath treatment" and drug treatment while in prison.
Moon also recommended that Coghill do his time in a prison near his Virginia Beach home.
The Bureau of Prisons inmate locator still lists Coghill as being "in transit."
Coghill was taken into custody immediately after entering his guilty plea and being sentenced on Jan. 8.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia filed its original indictment in November 2004 against Coghill, who reportedly made millions over the years in real estate transactions.
That charge was a single count of wire fraud.
A grand jury issued another indictment in January 2005. That one included six fraud counts based on his real estate dealings in Virginia.
The U.S. Attorney who prosecuted Coghill reportedly said the defendant lied about building houses so he could get more bank loans.
The indictment also charged him with falsifying more than 30 certificates of occupancy, home inspections and surveys, according to a Charlottesville, Va., news magazine.
Coghill's 2005 bond was continued -- with one provision. He had to get the approval of his probation officer before entering into any personal or business financial obligations, according to the newest indictment, filed March 12.
He was allowed to go to Florida to help his father, a general contractor, complete two homes, according to several reports.
While in St. Augustine, Coghill arranged to buy the Conch House Marina Resort on Comares Avenue from David M. Ponce Jr. and his family in December 2005.
Financial problems with the attempted purchase quickly developed. Those problems mounted until the Ponces had to file for bankruptcy. A New York bank filed a foreclosure suit on the property.
A federal judge in Jacksonville ruled in the Ponces' favor in December 2008, giving the owners time to pay off their debts and get the property out of bankruptcy.
Coghill was sentenced to prison in March 2006 and served his time at Forrest City Federal Correctional Complex in eastern Arkansas. He was released from prison in June 2008.
The most recent indictment against Coghill lists the Conch House deal and 15 other financial transactions Coghill is said to have conducted in and around St. Augustine between March and December 2005.
The defendant allegedly didn't notify his probation officer about those deals or any other transactions.
That failure makes up the obstruction of justice charge because it kept the court "from determining and imposing an appropriate sentence that would afford adequate deterrence, protect the public from further crimes of the defendant and provide restitution to victims. ...," according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that Coghill continued to conduct business while he was in prison.
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