More than two years after a federal court jury found a former Fifth Third Bank vice president guilty of defrauding the bank and taking a kickback from borrowers, Paulette Roberts was sentenced Thursday to 30 months in prison — considerably less than the 108 months federal prosecutors had been seeking.
U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Helmick also ordered that Roberts, 58, of Sylvania, Ohio, pay more than $7.2 million in restitution to the bank.
The judge listened to more than two hours of arguments before sentencing Roberts to far less than the sentencing guidelines called for, in part, he said, because of her history and background “and the lack of intent to actually defraud the bank by causing them to lose the money.”
He said she actually was motivated by the need for the investors she worked with to succeed “for her to receive anything” from them. Still, some prison time was necessary, he said.
“The conduct that occurred here requires punishment and that means a prison sentence,” the judge said. “The conduct that occurred here needs to be deterred.”
Roberts was convicted in July, 2014, of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, bank bribery, and 41 counts of money laundering. The charges stemmed from loans she originated for some Monroe County real estate developers for four properties near Cabela’s in Dundee, Michigan.
A jury found that she falsified documents in order to get those loans approved and later was promised $300,000 by the developers if they made good on their investments. Prosecutors said she received some $137,000 as a “reward” and used that money on coins, cars, vacations, and other personal expenses.
Roberts took the stand during her trial, testifying that the payments were for consulting services she provided to the investors, including Giuseppe Cangialosi, who pleaded guilty in 2012 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in the scheme.
Roberts’ sentence was delayed for more than two years after she fired her trial attorney, Catherine Killam, alleging ineffective counsel.
In a lengthy statement to the court before the sentence was imposed, Roberts again lambasted her first attorney and said the jury never got to hear so much evidence that was crucial to the case.
“There was no intent on my part to defraud Fifth Third Bank or anyone else,” she said, adding that she was “not her own best advocate” during her two-week trial.
“I shut down and left everything to my attorney at the time,” she said. “I was living a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. … I felt I was abandoned by my own attorney at certain points in the trial.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Kern urged the court to impose a sentence that reflected the seriousness of Roberts’ crimes and punish her for her conduct. He said it was stunning to him that she still maintained her innocence and expressed no remorse.
“We’re not talking about someone who was young and naïve and unsophisticated,” he said. “She knew exactly what she was doing.”
Defense attorney Neil McElroy stressed that his client never intended for the bank to lose money on the loans.
Mr. McElroy said a long prison sentence was not necessary, that “any term” would serve as a deterrent to persons in positions like the one Roberts had at the bank. He said the $7 million-plus in restitution also was a considerable penalty in itself.
Judge Helmick ordered that responsibility for the restitution would be shared by Cangialosi, who has yet to be sentenced. The amount represents the unpaid balances on the Dundee loans.
