Chicago banker Stephen Calk was sentenced to more than a year in prison by a Manhattan federal judge on Monday for approving and delivering millions of dollars in illegal loans to former President Donald Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort in 2016.
Calk was convicted of financial institution bribery and conspiracy in July 2021 for delivering some $16 million in loans to Manafort in an attempt to get a government position during the Trump administration.
On Monday, the disgraced money man told Judge Lorna Schofield that his life has been upended after his conviction as he pleaded with her for a lenient sentence.
“As you can imagine, my life is in shambles,” Calk, 58, said.
The judge said she imposed the sentence of one year and one day to deter financial criminals and promote the rule of law. Calk will have to pay a $1,250,000 fine as part of the sentence.
He’ll be allowed to stay out of prison while he appeals the jury’s verdict, Schofield said.
Calk used his position as CEO of the Chicago-based Federal Savings Bank to approve the Manafort loans, federal prosecutors proved at trial.
The loans — paid in two installments, one of $9.5 million and a second for $6.5 million — were given to Manafort so he could avoid foreclosure on several properties he owned, including a Brooklyn brownstone.
In exchange for rubber stamping the loans, Calk sought a high-level government position following Trump’s election in 2016.
He drew up a list of administration jobs, which started with Secretary of the Treasury, and was followed by Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Defense, according to the feds.
Calk was interviewed at Trump Tower, but was passed over for the government jobs.
Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison term for the disgraced banker.