Ex-councilwoman sentenced to prison in mortgage fraud case

? A former Kansas City councilwoman was sentenced Friday to two months in prison and four months of home detention for mortgage fraud.

Saundra McFadden-Weaver, who lost her re-election bid after being indicted in January, was convicted in August of one count of conspiracy and six counts of wire fraud.

District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. recommended the prison time be served in a halfway house with McFadden-Weaver allowed to leave for work.

Gaitan also ordered McFadden-Weaver, 48, to pay $144,234 in restitution.

Prosecutors have said McFadden-Weaver misrepresented her intentions in a 2005 deal involving a house in the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit. Although the area is far outside the urban district she represented on the city council, she signed documents stating that she planned to live in the house.

Prosecutors said McFadden-Weaver and two others – mortgage broker Ricky L. Hamilton and contractor Emanuel Kind – conspired to fraudulently obtain a $405,331 loan in order to renovate another home owned by her church.

Hamilton and Kind pleaded guilty before McFadden-Weaver’s trial.

McFadden-Weaver testified that she was doing Kind a favor in getting the loan. She said Kind promised to pay the mortgage and renovate a house that her church owned. She told jurors that she didn’t intend to defraud anyone.