Del. Felton Bland (D-Petersburg) pled guilty today to a charge of bank fraud.
The felony charge stems from allegations that Bland forged the signature on a gift of land from an apparently unrelated man with the same last name.
Bland, 42, used that property as collateral for loans from BB&T Corp. to buy the A.D. Price Funeral Establishment on East Leigh Street in Richmond.
However, Bland placed the company that owned the funeral home in bankruptcy in December 2003, and BB&T Corp. has scheduled an auction to sell the property on Feb. 3.
Bland faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 29.
He was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2001.
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