Alberto Solaroli came this close to making restitution.
The Canadian citizen — who never made a single payment on the fraudulent $1.5 million loan he got from One Bank & Trust of Little Rock back in 2007 — had his sentencing delayed by a month because he told U.S. District Judge Brian Miller that he could come up with the $120,000 in restitution required by his plea deal.
When his sentencing hearing rolled around on Feb. 26, defense attorney Omar Greene read an email from Solaroli’s Canadian attorney saying mortgages on property in his wife’s name had been executed on that Friday. The money would be wired to Greene’s trust account on Monday.
Solaroli, 61, was hoping to be sentenced to probation, but Miller gave him a year and a day in federal prison instead. “I think when you steal $1.5 million, you deserve prison,” the judge said.
What’s more, Miller told him that paying the restitution before the hearing probably wouldn’t have changed his sentence, which he is to start serving on April 26 because Miller gave him a generous 60 days to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
When last Monday rolled around — surprise! — the money didn’t show up. It still hadn’t been paid by the end of the week, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Harris was not amused.
Harris filed a motion Friday asking Miller to order Solaroli to report to the Bureau of Prisons immediately.
"To this point, the defendant’s promise of the 'check is in the mail' has been a false promise," Harris wrote. "The actions of the defendant have been nothing more than a ruse to influence the Court as it is apparent that material misrepresentations were made by the defendant."