NORFOLK, Va. –

As a result of an alleged attempt to scam $1.5 million out of a credit union, one used-car dealer received a prison sentence on Monday. 

Jady Brooks was sentenced in federal court to serve seven years in prison after “running a sophisticated scheme to defraud a credit union,” reported Tim McGlone of The Virginian-Pilot.

But that’s not all. The credit union ultimately lost about $1.2 million, which the judge ordered Brooks to repay, McGlone reported.

Brooks and his lawyer pleaded for leniency before U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson, which was rejected, though according to the report, the dealer’s sentence was “below federally recommended guidelines.”

According to the report, Brooks was at the head of a scheme that involved $1.5 million through bogus car loans from Navy Federal Credit Union.

Apparently, Brooks used straw buyers to take out the loans for cars that did not exist. But he didn’t keep all the money to himself; he shared some of the proceeds with those people, some of whom made repayments to the credit union even though they never got a car, the records say.

During this period of time, he worked for a used-car dealer in Rocky Mount, N.C.

To view the whole report from The Virginian-Pilot, see here.