FRESNO — Kenneth Shane Patterson, 44, of Fresno, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to five years and six months in prison and ordered to pay $1.9 million in restitution for wire fraud, bank fraud, and evading the payment of taxes, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Patterson convinced a small business owner to give him more than $1 million over approximately 31 months so that Patterson could acquire a skilled nursing facility in Pasadena. Patterson promised to then sell the facility to the business owner at below market value. Patterson told the business owner that he needed the money to clear liens and pay other expenses so the deal would close. In reality, Patterson never actually intended to buy the facility and instead spent the money on unrelated business expenses and his own gambling.

In addition to defrauding the business owner, Patterson defrauded Bank of America in a check-kiting scheme by writing two checks totaling $230,000 from Patterson’s business account at JPMorgan Chase to another of his business accounts at Bank of America. The Chase account’s balance at the time was less than $10,000. After writing the checks, Patterson quickly transferred and spent the deposited funds before Bank of America realized Patterson’s check had bounced. Bank of America sustained a loss of approximately $150,000.

Additionally, Patterson evaded paying federal income tax from tax years as far back as 2003 through various methods of evasion, including having no personal bank accounts, incurring expenses on accounts not in his name, and dealing in a high volume of cash. Patterson pleaded guilty on Oct. 19, 2021.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandre Dempsey prosecuted the case.