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Landlord accused of racial threats, stealing identities pleads guilty to 4 counts in wide-ranging case



Stephen M. Katz / Daily Press David Merryman, of Hampton, got into a heated argument on the steps of City Hall with the head of the city’s housing codes office over the city’s efforts to condemn one of his rental properties. The argument reflected years of disagreements between the men. As seen Saturday, April 25, 2020.

By PETER DUJARDIN | pdujardin@dailypress.com | Staff writer
UPDATED: August 1, 2024 at 2:48 p.m.

NORFOLK — A Peninsula landlord hit earlier this year with numerous federal housing fraud and racial discrimination charges pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Norfolk.

David Lee Merryman, 59 — who owns more than 60 residential properties in Newport News and Hampton — was charged in January in a wide-ranging indictment that many tenants say stemmed from years of abuses.

Among other things, federal prosecutors accused Merryman of using race-based taunts against Black residents as he threatened them with eviction — sometimes threatening to kill them in the process, the indictment asserted. ... Merryman was also accused of forging applications for pandemic-related housing assistance grants, illegally obtaining more than $77,000.

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Yugonda Sample-Jones, a community activist who has kept track over the years of Merryman’s treatment of his tenants, said the guilty pleas were a long time coming. ... “Karma is a beautiful thing,” she said.

Peter Dujardin, 757-897-2062, pdujardin@dailypress.com

Originally Published: July 31, 2024 at 6:35 p.m.