When a Memphis newspaper ran a foreclosure notice last May announcing that Graceland — the Memphis home of Elvis Presley turned tourist site — was being put up for auction, it set off a wave of suspicious minds. One of those was Riley Keough, Elvis’s granddaughter. Riley sued to stop the auction, and eventually the whole sordid story was unraveled. Con artist Lisa Jeanine Findley of Missouri assumed three identities and forged two signatures in her plot to extort $2.85 million from the Presley family, claiming that Elvis’s daughter (and Riley’s mom) Lisa Marie Presley had taken a $3.8 million loan, with Graceland as collateral, that was unpaid at the time of Lisa Marie’s death in 2023. Findley was charged last August on counts of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft, and pleaded not guilty. But I guess the prospect of a 20-year jailhouse rock had Findley all shook up, because this week she accepted a plea deal of guilty for the mail fraud charge, while the other charge was dropped:
A Missouri woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge accusing her of concocting a brazen plot to defraud Elvis Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale.
During a hearing in front of a Memphis judge, Lisa Jeanine Findley pleaded guilty to a charge of mail fraud related to the scheme. She previously pleaded not guilty to the two-count indictment, which also includes a count of aggravated identity theft that will now be dropped.
When asked by the judge if Findley was admitting guilt and accepting responsibility, she said “Yes.”
Findley will be sentenced on June 18. She would have faced up to 20 years if convicted, but she is expected to receive less than that under the plea deal.
Findley, of Kimberling City, falsely claimed Presley’s daughter borrowed $3.8 million from a bogus private lender and had pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan before her death in January 2023, prosecutors said when she was charged in August 2024. She then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities.
Findley posed as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024, prosecutors said. A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter sued.
Experts were baffled by the attempt to sell off one of the most storied pieces of real estate in the country using names, emails and documents that were quickly suspected to be phony.
…After the scheme fell apart, Findley tried to make it look like the person responsible was a Nigerian identity thief, prosecutors said. An email sent May 25 to the AP from the same email as the earlier statement said in Spanish that the foreclosure sale attempt was made by a Nigerian fraud ring that targets old and dead people in the U.S. and uses the internet to steal money.
As I said back when Findley was charged six months ago, I just can’t get over how involved and time consuming this scheme was. This is why I could never be a con artist, I’m too lazy! Sure, I’d be great with the details. But even just reading about Findley’s intricate plot leaves me exhausted. At the end of the day, wouldn’t an honest, legal job have taken less effort? And before you say “But the money wouldn’t be the same,” remember — she didn’t get away with it! She got caught in a trap and she can’t walk out.
Like many of you commented when this story first broke last year, I too am eagerly looking forward to the inevitable tv-or-film adaptation, which I nominate to be titled The (un)Talented Mrs. Findley. And if it’s not too distressing for her, I think it’d be a nice karmic touch if Riley Keough acted as producer. I like the idea of Riley making money off the woman who tried to scam her family out of millions, plus their legacy. Riley could find a way of doing it that won’t be cruel.
SW-MO woman makes national news. Pleads guilty of scheme to steal Elvis Presley family’s ownership interest in Graceland https://t.co/q9oKjco3hV — Lisa Jeanine Findley, 53, Kimberling City, attempted a fraudulent sale of Graceland — using a fake company, forged docs, & false…
— Joplin News First (@JoplinNewsFirst) February 26, 2025
Photos credit: Mike Carrillo / Avalon
