Former Knox County Prosecutor Bradley Catt’s check-kiting brought him an 18-month federal prison sentence Thursday for bank fraud, much less than the time a state judge could give him next week for spending his clients’ money on office expenses and trips.
U.S. District Judge John Tinder also sentenced Catt to five years probation and ordered him to pay restitution to two banks.
Catt, 36, remains under house arrest at his mother’s home in Vincennes until his Dec. 19 sentencing in Dubois County. Catt faces up to 82 years in state prison after pleading guilty to 19 felony charges of theft and forgery.
Catt resigned last year and has admitted embezzling nearly $1.5 million between 1992 and 1996. He pleaded guilty in September and admitted to cashing checks worth $41,400 and $74,500 on accounts that never contained more than a few thousand dollars. He promised to repay $41,100 to an Evansville bank and $70,480 to a bank in Vincennes.
