A woman has been sentenced to more than four years in prison for a scheme to steal Graceland from the estate of Elvis Presley.
As BBC News reports, Lisa Jeanine Findley from Missouri pleaded guilty to felony mail fraud back in February, telling the judge that she accepted responsibility for her actions.
Prosecutors had accused her of using a fake company, falsified court filings, a fake loan and a forged signature of Presley’s late daughter Lisa Marie to conduct a fraudulent sale of the legendary Graceland estate.
In early 2023, it was reported that Lisa Marie’s daughters – actor Riley Keough, and twins Harper and Finley Lockwood – would inherit the estate, which is located in Memphis, Tennessee.
Last year, Keough sought to halt the court-approved sale of the residence, and alleged in a lawsuit that the sale was “fraudulent”. Findley, 54, was then federally charged with mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in August 2024.
When sentencing Findley, the judge said that her “wild scheme” was “highly sophisticated”, as she attempted to defraud the Presley family. Findley had falsely claimed that Lisa Marie had taken out a loan from Naussany Investments in 2018 to secure a $3.8million (£3million) loan.
The Missouri firm claimed that the loan was never paid back, and Graceland was used as collateral.
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According to prosecutors, the lender was actually a fabrication, and Findley used numerous aliases to pose as the bogus firm. She threatened to foreclose on Graceland and auction the estate, unless the Presley family settled the claim for $2.85million.
Findley is said to have filed a fake creditor’s claim in California, submitted false loan documents in Tennessee and published a foreclosure sale notice in a local newspaper. A judge halted the sale in May 2024, after Keough took legal action.
When Findley was charged, she falsely claimed to Keough’s attorneys that a Nigerian identity thief had perpetrated the scheme, per her indictment.
Graceland was home to Elvis for 20 years before he died in 1977. The estate is now an attraction where fans can “experience 120 acres dedicated to the life and career” of the rock icon. It welcomes half a million visitors each year.
In other news, Priscilla Presley has spoken candidly about her disapproval of Lisa Marie’s relationship with Michael Jackson, saying their brief marriage “appalled” her.
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