Prosecutors in the case against Lee Farkas, who was convicted of leading a $2.9 billion scheme that wrecked Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., have asked the judge in the case to sentence Farkas to at least 50-years in prison, adding that the maximum sentence for his crime is 385 years.

Farkas was convicted in April of 14 counts of conspiracy, bank, securities and wire fraud. As Reuters points out:

Prosecutors said in a court filing on Thursday that the statutory maximum was 385 years and they urged District Judge Leonie Brinkema to sentence him to at least 50 years to ensure that Farkas spends the rest of his life in prison.

“The nature, duration, and scope of Farkas’s criminal acts warrant maximum punishment for maximum deterrence,” they said. Sentencing is scheduled for Thursday.

The fraud began in 2002 and ran until TBW filed for bankruptcy in August 2009. The mortgage giant’s collapse was a major contributing factor to the implosion of one of the largest U.S. regional banks, Colonial Bank.

Farkas’ lawyer called the proposed life sentence “a waste of taxpayer dollars.” A “substantial sentence is scary enough,” he said.

U.S. wants ex-mortgage boss to get life in prison [Reuters]

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