Despite an unusual plea for leniency from Houston's city controller, five-time felon and swindler Dwayne Jordon was handed a 30-year sentence Friday after admitting to stealing 23 properties from rightful owners by forging deeds and building new homes on pilfered land. He then resold the properties to unsuspecting victims. Harris County District Judge David Mendoza said he weighed competing factors to find a "sentence that fit the crime." He said he considered Jordon's construction work on stolen and legitimate lots in a blighted neighborhood, evidence of his continuing scams while free on bond and Jordon's role as a father and...