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U.S. District Judge James Whittemore also sentenced Giovanetti to a term of supervised release of five years, imposed a $2,300 special assessment and ordered him to pay $1 million in restitution to SunTrust Bank, a release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida said.

Giovanetti was indicted in July, and a federal jury convicted him in February on 11 counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit fraud.

According to evidence presented at trial, Giovanetti was responsible for having his employees fax falsified applications for financing to SunTrust. This was accomplished by requesting financing for vehicles no longer in the possession of the Big Oaks dealership, the release said.

The court found that 33 such funding requests were sent, resulting in Big Oaks receiving more than 3.5 million dollars, the release said.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Florida Department ofLaw Enforcement and prosecuted by assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Hansen.