Missouri Woman Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in Prison for Trying To Sell Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Scam

A Missouri woman has been sentenced to 57 months in prison for fraudulently trying to sell off Elvis Presley's Graceland.

Lisa Jeanine Findley, 54, was sentenced in federal court in Memphis, TN to four years and nine months behind bars for trying to use a fake company and forged documents to sell off Presley's former home.

The judge described Findley's actions as a "wild scheme" and "highly sophisticated," according to WREG, the local Fox station in Memphis.

When Findley was charged in August 2024, prosecutors accused her of falsely claiming Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus private lender and had used Graceland as collateral for the loan before her death in January 2023.

Authorities said Findley then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement.

Prosecutors accused Findley of posing as three different people supposedly involved with the fake lender, fabricating loan documents and publishing a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024. Presley's granddaughter sued and a judge stopped the sale.

The Associated Press reports a public notice for the foreclosure sale of the 13-acre estate said Promenade Trust, which controls the Graceland museum, owed $3.8 million after failing to repay a 2018 loan.

Lisa Marie Presley's daughter, Riley Keough, inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother. Keough filed the lawsuit claiming fraud. The AP reports Keough alleged in the lawsuit that Naussany Investments presented fraudulent documents regarding the loan in September 2023 and that Lisa Marie Presley never borrowed money from Naussany.

Findley pleaded guilty in February to a charge of mail fraud related to the scam. She was also indicted on a charge of aggravated identity theft, but the charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

The notary whose name was listed on Naussany’s documents said she never met Lisa Marie Presley nor notarized any documents for her, according to the estate’s lawsuit, WOWT-TV reported. The judge said the notary’s affidavit brought into question the authenticity of the signature.

Graceland was Elvis Presley’s home before he died in August 1977 at the age of 42. It's now a museum and tourist attraction attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Across the street is a Presley-themed entertainment complex owned by Elvis Presley Enterprises.

No stranger to the law

Findley is no stranger to the law. The judge cited her criminal history, including several convictions from the mid-2000s, many in Oklahoma, according to WREG. They include obtaining money under false pretenses, including credit card and fake check charges, but the TV station reports she has not been convicted of a crime in the last decade.

"I don’t know how the defendant would think this [scheme] would be accomplished, yet had it come to fruition, it would have been a tragedy of justice," said U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr.

Findley did not speak on her own behalf during her hearing Tuesday.