Man found guilty of fraudulently stealing condo from elderly woman, daughters

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — A man who used false documents to take ownership of a condo from an elderly woman and her children was found guilty on Tuesday.

A Bay County jury found 37-year-old Olandis Dean Hobbs guilty of grand theft over $100,000, fraudulent use of personal identification information, unlawful filing of false documents, and uttering a forgery and forgery.

Prosecutor Josh James said the fraudulent use of personal identification information charge alone carries a minimum mandatory 10-year sentence.

According to a news release, James called 9 witnesses including women who along with their 85-year-old mother owned the $700,000 condo through an LLC. Officials said evidence was presented proving the Hobbs filed fraudulent paperwork with the Clerk of Circuit Court transferring ownership of the condo to himself in late 2022.

"This defender is a squatter on steroids," James told jurors. "He didn't move into a vacant building; he created fraudulent documents and illegally claimed a condominium worth hundreds of thousands of dollars as his own."

Hobbs then changed the locks on the condo and notified the condo's management of the change in ownership, officials wrote.

Officials said on January 13, 2023, Panama City Beach Police served a search warrant on the unit and arrested Hobbs. He had barricaded himself inside.

Even though Hobbs has been in custody since his arrest, he remained the listed owner of the property pending civil litigation and the outcome of the criminal case.

James said the victims had to continue to pay the monthly HOA fees to keep the unit safe, as well as the property taxes. They were unable to obtain property insurance on the unit since it wasn't in their name, leaving it at risk for the entire 2023 Hurricane season.