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One of Middletown's well-known and respected business leaders is scheduled to be sentenced Monday, Sept. 8, in U.S. District Court in Covington, Ky., for his role in a scheme to defraud a mortgage broker out of more than $3.5 million.

Gregg Russell, 54, former president of Middletown-based Courtney Duff & Associates, on June 9 changed his plea to guilty on a single charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Russell — along with fellow defendants Georgia Bowling, 65, of Franklin, and her son, William Bowling, 46, formerly of Middletown — face up to 20 years in prison, fines of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.

Russell's lawyers have submitted a memorandum to the court seeking probation, citing he had a minimal role in what was the Bowling's scheme.

The Bowlings, who on July 15 also changed their pleas to guilty, are set to be sentenced separately on Oct. 27 on the same charge.

In court documents, a number of business and community leaders have sent letters to federal Judge Danny C. Reeves attesting to Russell's service and his character.

In addition to the letters, the judge has also been advised of various recognitions that Russell received, including those from the Ohio House of Representatives and the Middletown City Schools.

According to Georgia Bowling's plea agreement, she brokered a deal in March 2004 that was divided into 24 separate transactions for her son to purchase 24 investment properties in the Dayton suburb of Kettering.

According to court documents, Georgia Bowling, a licensed real estate dealer, represented her son and knew he could not afford the down payments required for the purchase. She developed a scheme to defraud the lender — Countrywide Home Mortgage — on all of the loans and inflated the true purchase price on the loan documents, court documents show.

Georgia Bowling indicated on the loan documents that Marconi Construction had done renovation work at the properties, when in fact the construction firm did not, according to court documents.

Georgia Bowling allegedly enlisted the help of her boss, Russell, a licensed real estate agent, who deposited more than $400,000 worth of checks to Marconi Construction, which he knew were going for William Bowling's down payment, according court documents. Russell deposited the checks into his own account, then withdrew 24 cashier's checks for the down payments for the closings on the properties, according to court documents.

William Bowling did not make any of the down payments, even though he certified to Countrywide on the loan documents that he was making the payments, according to court documents.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2871 or erichter@coxohio.com.