Court documents show that the defendant, Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, entered her plea in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on Monday. She now faces a possible 20-year prison term at her sentencing scheduled for June 18.
Federal prosecutors describe her alleged conduct as a carefully planned effort to forge documents, file false court records, and create a sham company to claim that Graceland had been pledged as collateral for an unpaid loan.
According to investigators, Findley told Presley’s heirs that she would foreclose on the property and auction it to the highest bidder if they did not settle or pay her demands.
Presley purchased the Memphis, Tennessee, property in 1957 and lived there until he died in 1977. Because of its significance, Graceland is designated as a National Historic Landmark and is one of the most visited private homes in the United States as well as a significant tourist draw for Tennessee.
“Fame and money are magnets for criminals who look to capitalize on another person’s celebrity status,” Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group said at the time.
“In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain.”
She also allegedly placed notices of a fabricated foreclosure sale in local news outlets to bolster the appearance of a legitimate claim.
Federal investigators from both the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI’s Nashville field office spearheaded the probe, scrutinizing documents and online accounts that they say Findley used to advance the fraud.
The Department of Justice said in a statement that “Findley threatened to foreclose on Graceland and auction it to the highest bidder,” a threat aimed at pressuring Presley’s daughter’s estate into paying for a nonexistent loan.
When Lisa Marie Presley, the singer’s daughter, died, Findley claimed that the alleged debt remained in default.
According to officials, the Presley family, represented by Lisa Marie Presley’s daughter, Riley Keough, contested Findley’s foreclosure notices in state court.
At the time, prosecutors asserted that Findley was attempting to steal a historic property and exploit one of America’s most famous cultural icons.
Investigators contended that Findley responded by filing more false statements and attempting to shift blame to an alleged Nigerian co-conspirator. Despite her prior assertions of innocence, she has now formally pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud.
An attorney listed for Findley in federal court records did not respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times before publication time, nor did Elvis Presley Enterprises, which operates the Elvis Presley Trust and Graceland.
