The former president of a failed Stockbridge bank was sentenced on Thursday to 12 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a scheme that injured banks in at least two states.
Mark A. Conner, 46, formerly an insider at FirstCity Bank, also must pay $19.5 million in restitution to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and 10 banks in Georgia and Florida, federal prosecutors said. His prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release.
Conner pleaded guilty last year to the conspiracy charge and to one count of perjury related to a personal bankruptcy case.
Prosecutors said Conner hid from the bank's board and loan committee that he was receiving proceeds of loans that ultimately went bad. The bank approved loans to borrowers, unaware the borrowers were buying property Conner or his co-conspirators owned. Other banks bought pieces of those loans.
Conner and co-conspirators also misled bank regulators and unsuccessfully solicited assistance of the federal government under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, prosecutors said.
