LITTLE ROCK — A former senior vice president at One Bank & Trust of Little Rock has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after earlier pleading guilty to fraud and money laundering charges.
Kelly Harbert, who pleaded guilty in the case in January, appeared Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes in his Little Rock courtroom.
Harbert was accused of stealing up to $550,000 through a scheme in which she defrauded financial institutions by obtaining funds under false pretenses. Prosecutors said Harbert used her position and her business relationships around the state to have unsecured loans approved and then directed the money to her own excessive debt.
In addition to the prison term, Holmes also ordered Harbert to serve one year of supervised release and pay more than $440,000 in restitution to the banks she conned.
Harbert apologized to the court, calling her actions "deplorable" and "shameful."
"There are no excuses for what I did," she said, her voice shaking as she read from a prepared statement. "... I hurt and wronged people. People who put their trust in me. People who loved me."
Harbert asked Holmes to be merciful, promising she has learned from a "terrible mistake."
"I'll make the most of any and all chances I'm given and I'll spend my life trying to make up for what I've done," she said.
Harbert is a former volunteer and a board member of Women and Children First, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and Wildwood Park for the Arts. In 2009, she was featured in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's High Profile section.
In determining the sentence, which came in below the guideline range of 37 to 46 months, Holmes said he weighed Harbert's "sustained period of dishonesty" with an "otherwise exemplary life."
One Bank said it learned of the scheme while looking into unusual deposit activity. It filed a civil lawsuit against Harbert in June 2010. She was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2011.
Harbert faced a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on the bank fraud count alone.
Harbert was allowed to remain free for the immediate future but will have to report to prison within 30 days.