Dennis Raymond Sheffield, who pleaded guilty in June to 6 counts of bank fraud

Dennis Raymond Sheffield, who pleaded guilty in June to 6 counts of bank fraud, also will have to pay back $953,557 he obtained from Robertson Banking Co. in 2001 and 2002. "That's going to be difficult in light of his financial situation currently and other obligations," said defense lawyer Tommy Spina, who unsuccessfully argued for leniency. For the last three years, Sheffield has worked as a salesman for Knight Sign Industries in Tuscaloosa, earning $45,000 a year. Prior to that, Sheffield owned Tall Timber Inc. and had a longstanding relationship with Robertson Banking Co. That is how he was able to get loans in 2001 and 2002 for what turned out to be bogus deals. Sheffield, 47, falsely told the bank that he had a valuable timber sale contract and timber deeds signed by officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service allowing him to cut and remove trees in the Talladega National Forest in Bibb County. The next year, he falsely told the bank that he had a timber contract with United Land Corp. of Birmingham to remove trees in various parts of Tuscaloosa County. In both cases, according to his written plea document, he went to great lengths to fool the bank, submitting phony maps, contracts, deeds and other documents. He also toured forest land with bank officials. When Robertson Banking officials began asking why the timber was not being cut, Sheffield blamed bad weather conditions and labor shortages.