LI Man Gets to 10 Years In Prison For Stealing 89-Year-Old's Home

NORTH BABYLON, NY — A North Babylon man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for stealing the Brooklyn house of an 89-year-old woman, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced on Tuesday.

Shavard Callaway, 48, was convicted of two counts of second-degree grand larceny, one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, four counts of second-degree forgery, and one count of first-degree falsifying business records on November 18, 2022, following a jury trial.

In December 2014, Callaway sold the 89-year-old's Chauncey Street house after creating and "using a forged power of attorney", claiming to be the nephew of the homeowner, prosecutors said.

The 89-year-old had been absent in the home and was living with relatives in upstate New York at the time.

The property was sold to WI Management for $250,000.

In January 2015, the homeowner discovered the fraud because she was in contract to sell the home for $900,000.

The prospective purchaser did a title check and discovered a false deed on record. The homeowner immediately then began civil litigation to undo the fraud.

Callaway was indicted in November 2017 and hired an attorney who negotiated a surrender, but the defendant failed to surrender and evaded arrest, prosecutors said.

He was finally arrested in late 2020 after being located in Suffolk County.

Prior to the trial, the deed was returned to the estate of the 89-year-old owner – who died in July 2015 – and the purchase price was returned to WI Management by the title company, prosecutors said.

The investigation found that the Callaway, who is a predicate felon, boasted on Facebook that he had turned from his life of crime selling drugs to committing forgery and theft as a “paperwork master” and even posted a photo of the façade of 210 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, the location of the borough office for the City Register, where deeds are filed.