A couple who called themselves Cheri and Terry Tucker will be locked up in federal prison for 10 years.

Terrance George Tucker, 65, and Sonya Delores Wodke Tucker, 65, who pleaded guilty in March to bank fraud, were sentenced to 121 months and 120 months, respectively.

The court granted the prosecution’s request that any money recovered go to the victims; no fines were imposed on the Tuckers. A restitution hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Feb. 22.

Prior to the sentencing, Sonya Tucker asked the judge for another postponement for additional time to prepare. United States District Court Judge Manuel Real went forward with the sentencing on Mon., Nov. 30 as planned.

The Tuckers worked locally and operated Tucker Mortgage in Thousand Oaks and San Diego. They also sold real estate.

The two were convicted of being involved in fraudulent loan applications. Their sentencing on two counts of bank fraud could have brought a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison for each count, or 60 years total for each of them. Still, the decade-long sentences were more than they expected.

“The defense was hoping for a much lighter sentence,” said James Blatt, Sonja Tucker’s attorney.

His client will appeal the sentence, Blatt said.

Under federal law, she will serve 85 percent of her sentence, minus a year for time served.

If she’s a model prisoner, she may be released in less than 7½ years. But it’s impossible to predict, Blatt said, since variables include which prison she’s sent to, the programs made available to her and prison crowding.

Under federal law there’s no early release beyond serving 85 percent of her sentence.

“There are plenty of federal prison beds for criminals like the Tuckers,” said Assistant U.S. District Attorney Mark Aveis.

Sonja Tucker has been in the Metropolitan Detention Center, Los Angeles, without bail. In asking the court for leniency, she presented certificates of Bible study she completed while in jail.

In a letter she wrote to the judge she expressed her admiration for her husband and business partner, Terry Tucker, listing awards he’d received and charities he’d served, including the American Cancer Society and Boy Scouts.

“It breaks my heart that Terry is in jail when he is especially sick. He has suffered five heart attacks and two heart surgeries since our arrest,” she wrote.

Sonya Tucker is a breast cancer survivor in average health, Blatt said.

During the hearing, “Sonya pleaded for mercy and prayed Satan should be lifted from the shoulders of the judge,” Aveis said.

Real appeared to be unmoved. During the sentencing hearing, the judge referred to Terrance Tucker as a financial predator and called Sonya Tucker a danger to others.

“In open court she described her victims as her co-schemers,” Aveis said.

Where the Tuckers will serve their time has yet to be determined by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

After more than a year of investigation by the Ventura County district attorney’s office, with help from the Secret Service and federal prosecutors, the two were arrested a year ago in Stillwater, Okla., living in a motor home on a relative’s property.

Terrance Tucker’s attorney, federal public defender Dean Gits, didn’t immediately return calls for comment.

The couple were charged with a scheme in which they sought out private real estate investments from people; most were elderly. Investors got no firm documentation on what they were actually investing in but were promised interest of 12 percent or more.

The Tuckers then took the investment money and used it to secure about $80 million in conventional mortgage loans for about 400 unsuspecting homebuyers by falsely stating the down payments came from the assets of the borrowers when they actually came from private investors.

The couple told clients, who were mostly friends or members of their church, they could buy a home by getting 100 percent financing through a combination of conventional loans and short-term, high-interest loans called hard money loans.

According to court documents, the Tuckers also filled out the applications with false information about jobs and incomes. The loans came from various banks, including Washington Mutual and Downey Savings.

When the homeowners’ hard money loans came due, they would be advised to pay them off with a home equity line of credit obtained by the Tuckers. Instead of paying off the loans for the homeowners, the Tuckers would reinvest that money somewhere else into new hard money loans.

When the real estate bubble burst, their Ponzi scheme crumbled, and the lives of those who trusted the Tuckers were left in shambles.

An elderly widow from Thousand Oaks who was victimized by the Tuckers and doesn’t want to be identified by name has followed the sentencing proceedings closely.

“He looks like he’s in bad health and I feel sorry for him, but I think the sentences are fair,” she said.

Investigation into others involved with the Tuckers’ criminal activities is ongoing, Aveis said.

Blatt said he hopes the government also goes after the major institutions responsible, instead of giving major banks and their chief executive officers money while handing out stiff penalties to those who prepared the loan documents.