BOSTON -- A Sharon, Mass., man and two women were arrested Thursday, charged with using other peoples' identities to try to buy a house in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood.

The U.S. Attorney's office said Andre J. Lamerique, 25, of 288 N. Main St., in Sharon, and Carmella F. Lessegue, 25, of Wood Ave. in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood, and Judy Bonas, of New York City, were charged with using stolen identifications to try to finance the fictitious purchase of a home in Dorchester.

"It's taken quite a toll on me. I didn't realize how much of a toll physically and emotionally. But I'm far more nervous than I ever was," said the Dorchester home's lawful owner, Judy Melody.

Melody said she discovered the fraud in November when a California mortgage company called asking why she was missing payments on her Brockton home. Melody said she owns the Dorchester home and has no mortgage.

Prosecutors allege that Lamerique made up a fictitious sale of the Dorchester house in order to obtain funds from a $440,000 mortgage to finance the purchase.

They allege that Bonas then used a stolen identification card to pose as Melody, and Lessegue used a stolen identification card to pose as the buyer.

Law enforcement agencies said they got a tip about the alleged scheme and used an undercover Massachusetts state trooper to act as the attorney who was supposed to close the deal.

All three were arrested and charged in state court after the women participated in the closing of the phony sale at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds office on Jan. 23.

All three were being held in federal custody. If convicted, each defendant faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charges and up to 15 years on the ID theft charges.

"I'm happy it's gone to the federal level, definitely," Melody said.

Melody said she is still clearing her credit and hopes her plight will help other victims.

"If it makes other people check their credit report. You know, a mortgage could be sitting there," she said.