Three Pierce County women have been sentenced to prison time for their roles in a mortgage fraud conspiracy that helped sink Pierce Commercial Bank.

The U.S. attorney's office says the three helped Shawn Portmann carry out the scheme from 2004 to 2008. Portmann closed nearly $1 billion in fraudulent loans, and more than half of the loans have defaulted. He's due to be sentenced Jan. 28.

Loan underwriter Jeanette Salsi of Bonney Lake was sentenced to seven months in prison and four months of home confinement for approving fraudulent loan applications. Personal assistant Alice Lorraine Barney of Graham received two months in prison and 100 hours of community service for inserting false documents into loan files. Pierce Commercial vice president Sonja Lightfoot of Tacoma was sentenced to one month in prison, four months of home confinement and 60 hours of community service for selling fraudulent loans to other banks.