An Illinois man who pleaded guilty Aug. 13 of three counts of bank fraud – and in doing so avoided a new trial that was set to begin Monday – faces up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 for each count, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Wednesday.
Sentencing in U.S. district court is set Dec. 6 for Daniel Ballard, 59, of Bourbonnais, Ill., for bank fraud related to construction loans, the FDIC’s Office of General Counsel and DOJ said.
According to the agencies, Ballard admitted that between 2009 and 2012, he obtained multiple construction loan draws from the State Bank of Herscher (Illinois) by making false representations to Kankakee County Title Company claiming he had constructed one residence and remodeled another, when he had done neither. Instead, the two agencies said, he used the fraudulently obtained money to attempt to finish construction of another residence at 3013 Stone Fence Drive in Kankakee, Ill., that was over budget.
The DOJ and FDIC said Ballard had been previously convicted by a jury of all three counts of bank fraud in December 2016. In April 2018, however, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s June 2017 decision to vacate Ballard’s convictions. A new trial was scheduled on Aug. 20, 2018; however, the jury trial date has been vacated following Ballard’s plea, the agencies said.