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Former Cecil Bank President Sentenced To 2 Years In Prison For Bribery, Fraud

RISING SUN, Md. (WJZ) -- The former president of Cecil Bank has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges stemming from a 2012 straw purchase of a foreclosed home the bank owned.

Mary Beyer Halsey, 59, of Rising Sun, will also spend five years on supervised release, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said Friday.

Beyer Halsey pleaded guilty in July to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, receipt of a bribe by a bank official and false statement in bank records.

Former Cecil Bank President Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges Stemming From Straw Purchase Of Home

Officials said she conspired with an employee of a real estate development company to provide the man and a business partner a line of credit from the bank if he would buy the home for her. The bank sold the man, Daniel Whitehurst, the home for $150,000, which was $145,000 below market value.

In exchange, Whitehurst got a $650,000 line of credit and his business partner got a $500,000 line of credit.

Whitehurst, 36, of Bel Air, pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 2018. He faces up to 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

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