Brooklyn man heading to prison after posing as widow’s son to steal her home and sell it for $200K

A Brooklyn man who stole an elderly widow’s home with fake documents — then sold it out from under her for more than $200,000 — has been sentenced to up to four years in prison, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Christopher Williams, 43, took home some $209,000 in pure profit after he used phony birth and death certificates to convince the New York City Department of Finance that he was actually the son of his victim, Barbara Matthews, back in 2021, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said.

After he staked his claim on her Dunlop Avenue property in Jamaica, Queens, he turned around and sold it for $270,000 — and took home most of that following the closing, the DA’s office said in a statement.

Williams eventually pleaded guilty in August to first-degree identity theft and offering a false statement for filing.

“We will not allow criminals to scheme and scam their way into other people’s properties, and we will use every tool available to ensure that victims are made whole,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.

Williams was sentenced to between two and four years behind bars for his crimes on Tuesday, the DA’s office said.

Christopher Williams stole an elderly widow’s home with fake documents — then sold it out from under her for more than $200,000.

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“We will not allow criminals to scheme and scam their way into other people’s properties, and we will use every tool available to ensure that victims are made whole,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement.

TOMAS E. GASTON

Queens Supreme Court Justice Judge Leigh Cheng also granted a motion by the DA’s office to apply a state law that immediately restores the stolen property to its rightful owner — sparing Matthews the time and expense of the legal process.

“In communities targeted by deed fraudsters, many people do not have the means to hire an attorney to file a civil suit and litigate against deep-pocketed mortgage companies, banks and title insurers,” Katz said.

“Our use of this new tactic allows us to provide victims with one-stop justice.”

Williams’ defense attorney, Edward Muccini, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.