CEDAR RAPIDS MAN SENTENCED FOR STUDENT LOAN FRAUD
Contact: Peter Deegan
A man who participated with others in a scheme to fraudulently obtain federal student loans was sentenced today to more than 4 years in federal prison.
Michael Cortez, 31, from Cedar Rapids, received the prison term after a January 14, 2011, guilty plea to one count of mail fraud.
At his guilty plea hearing, Cortez admitted participating in a scheme with others to fraudulently obtain federal student loan money. As part of the scheme, Cortez and others applied for federal student aid in other people’s names and arranged for a federal loan proceeds check to be directed to a post office box under his and his co-schemer’s control.
Cortez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Cortez was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. A special assessment of $100 was imposed, and he was ordered to make $265,150.25 in restitution the U.S. Department of Education, and $5,854.00 in restitution to Kirkwood Community College, for a total of $271,004.25 in restitution. There is no parole in the federal system.
Cortez was released on the bond previously set and is to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Peter E. Deegan, Jr. and was investigated by the United States Department of Education and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is CR11-2.
