Broker Sentenced For Swindling Perth Amboy

State prosecutors say an insurance broker from Baltimore will have to serve at least 7.5 years in prison for swindling more than $2.5 million from Perth Amboy.

A judge in New Brunswick on Monday sentenced 71-year-old Francis Gartland to 15 years in prison for money laundering for submitting $2.6 million in fraudulent bills to the Perth Amboy school board. The attorney general's office says he is ineligible for parole for at least half of that time.

Gartland also received a concurrent seven-year sentence for stealing more than $200,000 from the city of Perth Amboy by collecting payments for a nonexistent wellness program.

His company was the school board's health insurance broker. From 2003 to 2009 he conspired with others to obtain payment for nonexistent or unauthorized health care programs.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press