Article Courtesy of The Tampa Bay Times

By Times Staff

Published April 6, 2014

CLEARWATER — The former president of a Clearwater condominium association has pleaded guilty to grand theft and fraud charges and has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Barbara Lockett, 52, a real estate broker, convinced an investor to put money into Mission Hills Condominiums. But police said at the time of her arrest that she swindled nearly $300,000 by trying to sell condos that were in foreclosure or off the market. 

Lockett had been president of the Mission Hills association's board of directors, but after the complaint against her, the board asked her to resign. 

Mission Hills, south of Coachman Road and east of U.S. 19, has more than 400 condos.