Brandon Woodrome, the 29-year-old Fort Smith construction company owner, will be sentenced April 18 for one count each of bank fraud and wire fraud.
In September, Woodrome waived indictment and plead guilty to the crimes in the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith.
He admitted to receiving more than $2.1 million from First Western Bank of Booneville and a finance company in Texas by submitting fraudulent invoices, crimes for which he faces years in federal prison.
“What happened was our growth outpaced our actual sales,” Woodrome, whose company was called Behr LLC, told Arkansas Business in October. “And instead of responding to a decline in sales by controlling overhead expenses, I just tried to push through and underbid projects. It compounded the problems.”
Bank fraud carries a penalty of up to 30 years federal prison, a fine of $1 million or both. Woodrome could be sentenced up to 20 years, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both for the wire fraud count. But his plea agreement suggests a sentence that’s more likely to be two to four years.
Woodrome will be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III.