Woodard arrives to court for sentencing

<p>By Bill Cresenzo</p><p>Once one of Hampton Roads' most powerful bankers, Edward Woodard Jr., the 70-year-old former CEO and president of Bank of the Commonwealth, arrived in U.S. District Court this morning to be sentenced for his role in a bad loan scandal that led to the bank's collapse.</p> Prosecutors are asking for a 30-year sentence, while Woodard's attorney Andrew Sacks is asking for a sentence of less than 10 years. The sentencing began at 10 a.m. Judge Raymond Jackson ruled Woodard was a leader in the conspiracy and his actions were responsible for the $333 million loss the government said it suffered because of the bank’s collapse. The ruling increases the number of years in prison Woodard could serve under sentencing guidelines. Wednesday morning, Stanley Sacks, also representing Woodard, argued that the recession was to blame for most of the loss, an argument Jackson later said had no basis in case law.