Friday, December 14, 2007

Bowman co-defendant pleads guilty in federal court


The last remaining co-defendant in the bank and credit card cases against Rep. John Bowman, D-St. Louis, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in St. Louis.
According to court records, Joanna Davis, 31, admitted she made a $1,000 payment to former Bank of America Vice President Robert Conner "in exchange for approval of a credit application."
Conner was found guilty following a trial earlier this month. His sentencing is scheduled for February.
Bowman's trial is scheduled for Feb. 4.

Conner and Bowman were indicted in January by a federal grand jury, which said Bowman and his co-defendants agreed to a scheme in which Conner took a bank lending program which provided money to small businesses by offering a $25,000 credit limit. Conner then arranged with the other defendants to apply for the loans, often with fictitious companies, then give Conner kickbacks ranging from $2,500 to $5,000 on each loan.
According to the indictment, Conner approved $1,213,970 in fraudulent loans.

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