Banker imprisoned for one year

SARASOTA — A federal judge sentenced one-time local loan officer Mark Leetzow to a year and a day in prison for his role in a widespread mortgage fraud conspiracy.

Leetzow, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office in Tampa, previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to making false statements to federally insured banks. In addition to the prison time, which was reduced because of his cooperation with the investigation, Leetzow was also ordered to pay $3,339,590.28 in restitution.

Leetzow, 44, was a loan officer for Countrywide Home Loans and National City Bank from 2005 to 2007, according to court records. Authorities allege that in that time he conspired with several others in the Sarasota-Bradenton area real estate industry in a scheme built around the fraudulent acquisition and sale of residential properties. Leetzow, according to prosecutors, assisted other conspirators in submitting false loan documents to CHL and NCB for the purpose of securing mortgages on residential homes.

Leetzow is one of nearly 20 people to have been sentenced in the mortgage fraud case. Officials say the conspiracy goes back at least a decade and covers more than 150 homes and $200 million in fraudulent loans. Some of the other conspirators, according to the U.S. Attorney's office, were Richard Bobka and R. Craig Adams. Bobka was previously sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, while Adams received a three-year sentence.