St. Marys banker sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzling

BRUNSWICK - A former bank executive at the Cumberland National Bank in St. Marys has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzling money from customer loan accounts. <br> <br> Thirty-seven-year-old Kenneth Richard Carpenter of St. Marys apologized during a sentencing hearing yesterday before Senior U.S. District Judge Anthony Alaimo in Brunswick. <br> <br> Carpenter also was ordered to pay $125,695 in restitution to the bank, perform 200 hours of community service and serve five years probation. He could have been sentenced to up to 30 years and fined one million dollars. <br> <br> Carpenter must serve at least 15 months of the prison term before becoming eligible for parole. <br> <br> On April third, Carpenter pleaded guilty to one count of federal bank fraud charging that he stole just over $138,000 dollars from November 2000 through June 2001 while he worked as a vice president and senior lending officer at the bank. <br> <br> F.B.I. Special Agent Tony Alig said Carpenter swindled the bank to pay for personal expenses. <br> <br> Bank officials fired Carpenter in June 2001 and called in the F.B.I. after discrepancies were found in at least 12 customer loan accounts handled by Carpenter.