A former South Bend Police officer is sentenced Friday in an elaborate mortgage scam that spanned five years.

44-year-old Robert Culp will spend 4 and half years in prison plus pay back more than two million dollars in restitution payments. Once Culp is out of prison he must start paying at least 200 dollars a month. He will also serve three years in probation.

He's guilty of making at least a million dollars in the scheme with the help of two other people. The judge ordered Culp to report for his prison sentence in 6 weeks.

The judge says he gave him a sentence below the advisory range and much less than the maximum 30 years because of a couple factors.

Culp has a clean record and has been committed to the community.

The judge also stressed the seriousness of the crime during a mortgage crisis and the countless victims hurt by the scam.

In May of 2008 Culp pleaded guilty to buying nearly 200 homes and inflating their prices by twenty percent.

“I think the court recognized that Mr. Culp had a substantial contribution to this community and it was obvious the court had its obligation and it was fulfilled under the sentencing guidelines. This has been, as they said in court, a fall from a very high place for Officer Culp ,” says Martin Kus, Culp’s attorney.

In court federal prosecutors also talked about a lifestyle Culp took on during the fraud case. They say he bought a half million dollar home, lake house, boat, and fancy cars. Most of which will be seized for restitution purposes.