Inman

Colorado banker gets 2 years work release for real estate fraud

A former Colorado banker was sentenced Wednesday to two years work release followed by 10 years probation in connection with his guilty plea to charges of felony theft, the Greeley Tribune reported.

Fred Allison, 42, was sentenced to jail Wednesday, reports said. The court granted Allison the option of work release to earn and repay the $9,000 he was convicted of stealing from a Colorado woman, according to media reports. Allison will also be on probation for 10 years after his work release sentence is over, reports said.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last month banned Allison from working in the bank industry ever again, the Tribune reported.

At his sentencing hearing Wednesday morning, Allison apologized to Rhonda Lesh, from whom Allison got a mortgage loan and never repaid, according to reports.

Lesh, who owns Lesh Mortgage Lending in Greeley, was a customer of New Frontier Bank, where Allison was vice president and a loan officer, reports said. Days after the loan, Allison was fired from New Frontier, according to reports.

If Allison doesn’t comply with the conditions of the work release program, including maintaining employment, he will remain in the Weld County Jail for two years, reports said.

If Allison violates his probation, his case will come back before the court, and he’ll be eligible for an open sentence, including up to six years in the Department of Corrections, according to the Tribune.

Allison pleaded guilty in October to a felony charge of theft between $500 and $15,000, media reports said.

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