A convicted white-collar criminal was sentenced Wednesday for persuading his son to shoot him in the leg as part of a staged insurance scam a day before he was to set to start serving a decade-long federal prison term from a high-profile mortgage fraud case. Brown called Shannon Egeland's insurance scheme and concocted shooting, which led to the amputation of his left leg, "an unthinkable kind of situation,'' and tacked on three years and 10 months to his 10-year sentence for mortgage fraud. Egeland, who stood on a prosthetic leg before the judge in U.S. District Court in Portland, said he's spent time reflecting the past 3 ½ years he's been in custody, and has realized he's in need of mental health counseling and treatment. "The injury that I sustained doesn't even bother me," Egeland told the judge during his sentencing hearing. "The pain that he has shouldn't be there...I've had 3 ½ years to recognize I am broken...If I could take it all back, I would, but I can't...That will haunt me the rest of my life.'' The teenager then left the scene on the side of the road in Caldwell, Idaho, about 30 miles (48km) west of Boise. Egeland called 911 and claimed he was a victim of assault when he stopped to help a pregnant motorist. He told authorities he was suddenly hit in the head and shot along the side of the road. Egeland was a co-owner of Desert Sun, which raised millions from local banks through a series of phony business plans and falsified loan applications. Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Bradford described Egeland in a sentencing memo as a "menace to society,'' who has been on a crime spree since 2004. Egeland came up with the trumped-up shooting plan to delay his prison sentence in the mortgage fraud case and benefit from fraudulently obtained disability insurance, he said. "The psychological and emotional destruction defendant caused this minor child is unimaginable," Scott Bradford wrote in the court memo. Egeland had his teenage son obtain a 20-gauge shotgun, while Egeland got the ammunition and directed his son to shoot him in the legs on July 31, 2014. Seven days earlier, Egeland had submitted an application for a disability insurance policy to Standard Insurance, falsely claiming he had never been arrested or indicted for either a felony or misdemeanor in the prior 10 years, according to court records. Standard Insurance did not suffer an actual loss because the fraud was quickly detected, Bradford said.
– A white-collar crook is facing extra prison time for having his son shoot him in the legs with a 20-gauge shotgun, the BBC reports. Shannon Egeland, 43, was already facing 10 years for taking part in a vast mortgage-fraud scheme when he had his 17-year-old son shoot him by a road in Caldwell, Idaho, in an attempt to avoid prison. "The psychological and emotional destruction defendant caused this minor child is unimaginable," US attorney Scott Bradford wrote in a sentencing memo. Back in 2009, Egeland was co-owner of an Oregon development company that defrauded banks out of $20 million in loans that he and a partner used to fund a lavish lifestyle. Facing prison, Egeland took out disability insurance and had his son aim for his legs. Egeland told police he'd been attacked after stopping to assist a pregnant driver, but investigators got suspicious when his pricey BMW, his wallet, and his cellphone weren't taken, the Idaho Statesman reports. Then they learned about his recent insurance, and the whole thing unravelled. Now Egeland is facing an extra 3 years and 10 months for his roadside scheme and had his leg amputated from the shotgun blast. Bradford called him a "self-absorbed, opportunistic narcissist," the Oregonian reports, but Egeland—who is now on three medications for mental health—has cast his own judgment. "What bothers me the most is my son—the pain is on him,'' he says. "If I could take it all back, I would, but I can't. That will haunt me the rest of my life.''