Jacob Rappaport was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on Tuesday morning after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The Baltimore County real estate attorney must surrender to federal authorities on July 7 after the case over a Southwest Baltimore apartment deal and another home-wholesale scheme moved into its punishment phase.
Rappaport, 41, said at sentencing that he had “nothing to gain” and called the case “the worst decision in [his] life.” He is tentatively set to give himself up on July 7, and prosecutors said he will forfeit the attorney’s fees tied to the scheme, which totaled a little more than $16,000.
U.S. District Court for Maryland
The sentencing came in U.S. District Court for Maryland after Rappaport pleaded guilty in April. Prosecutors said the agreement reflected the court’s view of a case built on false sale-price information, not an isolated paperwork mistake. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Delaney said there was no direct loss to the lenders involved, but “they took on risks based on false information provided by Rappaport and his clients.”
Delaney also said Rappaport “used his [law] license to help others commit crimes.” That is the practical issue in this case: lenders were asked to rely on a contract that did not match the real terms of the deal. In a bank fraud case, that kind of mismatch matters because the lender’s decision rests on the numbers it is given.
Coventry Manor apartment complex
Rappaport represented Limitless Management and its two co-owners in the 2022 sale of the Coventry Manor apartment complex. He admitted to drafting a contract of sale that listed a purchase price nearly $1 million higher than the actual price, while a side agreement with the true figure was not disclosed to the bank.
He also admitted to a similar scheme involving the wholesale of 42 residential homes in the Baltimore area. Limitless co-owner Alexander Schultz pleaded guilty in 2024 to bank fraud in connection with the two deals and is still awaiting sentencing, while the other co-owner has never faced charges and was not named in the other prosecutions.
Sean Delaney and Andrew C. White
Both prosecutors and Andrew C. White, Rappaport’s defense attorney, agreed to recommend a 15-month penalty. Rappaport also said he expects a sixth child, a detail he raised as he asked the court for leniency. His sentence leaves him facing the prison term itself, the forfeiture order, and the July 7 surrender date as the case moves from court judgment to execution.
The unanswered question is why Rappaport helped carry out the scheme if he says he had nothing to gain. On the record at sentencing, he gave no answer beyond his own statement and the court’s punishment.
