A co-owner and loan officer of LHS Mortgage in Burnsville was sentenced Thursday to just over five years in federal prison for his role in a fraud scheme that obtained $18 million in fraudulent loans on about 40 properties.

Ronald Clark Joseph, 50, of Credit River Township, had cooperated with authorities investigating the scheme, which yielded its participants more than $2.5 million in improper payments at loan closings. The 63-month sentence was the minimum recommended by advisory guidelines.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Dixon had argued for a sentence closer to the guidelines' 78-month high end. He said Joseph did not deserve credit for accepting responsibility in the scheme.

After pleading guilty, Dixon said, Joseph stole credit card checks from other people's mail in Scott County and fraudulently obtained $2,000. Later, the prosecutor said, Joseph used another person's credit card to make more than $12,000 in payments, including college tuition for his son.

Dixon said Joseph had "a large number" of prior convictions, most of which were quite old. "But in his 30s he had a number of fraud and theft convictions. Making bad decisions seems to be a way of life for Mr. Joseph."

Joe Friedberg, Joseph's attorney, said his client admitted his crimes before he was charged, made several proffers to the government, and followed through with a guilty plea. In addition, he tried to commit suicide because he was distraught over his behavior and his belief that it had turned his family against him.

Friedberg said the pain was more acute because Joseph's 19-year-old daughter had had cervical cancer diagnosed.

"What more responsibility can he accept than to say, based upon the things I have done, I am worthless?" Friedberg asked. He suggested a prison sentence below the minimum recommended by the guidelines.

Friedberg said Joseph thought his only remaining value was his $1 million life insurance policy. Friedberg alerted authorities that Joseph had attempted suicide, and he was saved.

Dixon said he sees the suicide attempt differently. "Suicide ... is an avoidance of consequences of one's actions," he said.

Joseph told U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank that after his suicide attempt, a pastor introduced him to a man who had tried to kill himself by stepping in front of a semitrailer truck. "That was an awakening for me," he said. Joseph said he knew then that he was meant to live.

"I was wrong about what people thought of me. I was wrong about who I was. And I was wrong about what I was doing," Joseph said. "I accept responsibility. All I can ask is that I have a chance to get home and make amends."

In determining a sentence, Frank said he weighed the sentences given to three others involved in the scheme, the fact that Joseph was a key player because he had 50 percent ownership in LHS Mortgage and a licensed broker, his crimes while awaiting sentencing, his long record of good deeds and family support, and the needs of justice to deter similar behavior.

Frank then sentenced Joseph to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He's also jointly and severally liable for $2,501,392.80 of restitution, a figure that could change up or down as the government sorts out the damages.

Dan Browning • 612-673-4493