Ashli Ford indicted again

SANDUSKY — Podcaster Ashli Ford is facing new charges ahead of her criminal court sentencing next month. Ford, 40, of Milan, was recently indicted in Erie County on five felony charges relating to allegations of an alleged forgery in a loan filing on a home mortgage, Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter said on Friday. She was indicted on: • Two counts of tampering with records, both third-degree felonies • One count of forgery, a third-degree felony • One count of aggravated theft, a third-degree felony • One count of securing writings by deception, a third-degree felony Baxter confirmed that Ford turned herself in at the Erie County Sheriff's Office on Friday afternoon. Baxter said the charges were unrelated to Ford's recent criminal trial, where she was found guilty by a judge on four felony intimidation charges relating to threats posted online against local government officials. The alleged criminal conduct in the new mortgage fraud case occurred in 2022 and was not discovered until last month, Baxter said. In her intimidation case, she is set to be sentenced in the Erie County Court of Common Pleas on Aug. 18. Newest allegations Baxter said that the allegations first came to their attention on June 10, when a foreclosure action was filed against Ford and another individual, who is listed as a victim in this case and a co-signer on the loan. Baxter added that the situation stemmed from a previous foreclosure that began on Jan. 31, 2020, which prompted an agreement between the co-signer and Ford to sell the home and use the money to pay off the delinquencies. Instead of selling the home, Ford allegedly forged the co-signer's signature to obtain a federal loan and used that money to pay off the loan deficiency, dismiss the foreclosure and modify the original loan. While reviewing the mortgages associated with the home, located in the 500 block of Mason Road East in the Milan area, Baxter said that one was for a federal housing loan issued through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as a modification to the house's original loan, both of which were allegedly executed on Sept. 16, 2022. Ford, who executed the filing, allegedly listed herself and the co-signer as having a familial relationship when that was not the case, Baxter said. The signatures on the documents were those of the alleged co-signer and Ford — the prosecutor contends the co-signer's signature was allegedly forged by Ford — and which Baxter said misrepresents the relationship between the two at the time of the filing. "In other words, over $30,000 was paid by the federal government to the loan lending institution so that they can bring (Ford) up to current with the loan," Baxter said. "The initial foreclosure was dismissed, but they are deficient and behind on their payments again." Information on when Ford's initial court hearing will be and whether she was given a bond was not available as of late Friday.