Fresno resident Kenneth Shane Patterson, 44, was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison Monday after defrauding a small business owner out of more than $1 million in a real estate scheme.

Patterson was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to pay $1.9 minion in restitution for wire fraud, bank fraud and tax evasion, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Patterson convinced a small business owner to give him more than $1 million over about 31 months so Patterson could acquire a skilled nursing facility in Pasadena, according to court documents. 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 gambling.

Patterson also defrauded Bank of America in a check-kiting scheme by writing two checks totaling $230,000 from his 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.

Patterson also evaded paying federal income tax dating back to 2003 through various methods, 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 in a case that was the product of an investigation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.