20 months for Greenlawn man in fraud case

A one-time Long Island businessman was sentenced to 20 months in prison Tuesday for misappropriating millions in client escrow funds entrusted to his title insurance companies.

Bryan Madden, 56, of Greenlawn, former owner of three title insurance agencies including Liberty Title Agency, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet in federal court in Manhattan on charges of wire fraud and insurance fraud.

Madden pleaded guilty last year to a scheme in which he tried to keep Liberty afloat, beginning in early 2008, by using client funds and delaying timely payment of taxes on clients' mortgages.

"I take full responsibility," Madden told Sweet. "My intent was to keep the company going, and all I ended up doing was committing a crime."

Sentencing guidelines called for a prison sentence of 41 to 51 months, but Madden's lawyer convinced Sweet to reduce the time by arguing that the guidelines were too high, and that Madden had lived a "selfless" life committed to his family and to charitable efforts on Long Island.