People convicted of savings and loan fraud are getting harsher prison sentences than the typical white-collar criminal, according to Justice Department figures.
Thirty-seven of those convicted for S&L crimes since Oct. 1, 1988, have not been jailed. But the 128 who received prison sentences got an average of 3.2 years, according to department statistics.That compares to an average 2.5 years for all federal fraud cases, including embezzlement and forgery, according to a study compiled last year by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics. That study used figures from 1987, the most recent year available.
The average sentence for embezzlement during 1987 was 1.8 years while the average sentence for mail and wire fraud was 2.6 years.
Sentences have ranged from probation to the 30-year term handed to Woody F. Lemons, former chairman of the failed Vernon Savings & Loan Association near Dallas, earlier this year.
Other important sentences include:
- A 15-year prison term given to Robert Hopkins, former chairman of Commodore Savings Association in Dallas, for making illegal campaign contributions with the thrift's money and concealing the donations from federal regulators. He also was ordered to pay restitution of $122,980.
- The 12-year prison terms given to Oscar Tharp, president, and John O'Donnell, the vice president, of First Mutual Savings Association of Pensacola, Fla., for conspiring to steal money from the S&L through kickback schemes involving multimillion-dollar bank loans for Georgia real estate projects.