CEDAR RAPIDS - The attorney for a rogue insurance agent accused of bilking $1 million from his elderly clients is planning to ask the court for leniency.

Jack Leonard Straw, 51, a former Dunkerton resident, has pleaded guilty to fraud charges, and his sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.

Prosecutors said Straw misused money he was given by elderly residents.

His attorney said Straw didn't lead a lavish lifestyle but lost control of his business and used some of the cash to pay earlier investors.

Defense Attorney Leslie Stokke told the court in motions filed last month that Straw should get a lighter than normal sentence because he accepted responsibility and assisted in the investigation.

He also said Straw's medical condition warrants special consideration and asked that Straw receive credit for time he served while undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

Stokke asked in court records that Straw be able to serve his time in a medical facility.

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Berry, is fighting the request for leniency.

Straw "fleeced his vulnerable victims out of millions of dollars. Such egregious conduct simply cannot be excused or even partially explained away by (his) present claim of mental illness," Berry wrote in court records.

There is also a dispute about the number of victims involved in Straw's schemes, which could weigh on his punishment.

The defense places the number at 46, which is what was determined in a pre-sentence report prepared by probation agents.

The government said more than 50 people were victimized and the report was wrong because it counted married couples as a single victim.

Berry said in court records that decisions about Straw's placement and credit for time served for the mental health exam should be left up to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Straw faces up to 130 years in prison, but earlier statements in court place the likely sentence in the range of six or seven years because he has an otherwise clean criminal record.

Straw, a former Buchanan County sheriff's deputy, ran Financial Benefit Services Corp. in Waterloo and had an office in Mason City. He has since been stripped of his insurance license and his law enforcement certification.

According to records submitted by the defense, Straw, an Independence native, had been chief deputy at the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office and left the department on good terms in 1994 for better financial opportunities.

He worked for Life Investors and then opened his own office in 1996.

In 2000 and 2001, Straw started losing control of his business and himself, according to information Stokke submitted to the court. As his company was taking on more than he could handle, Straw started finding himself forgetting where he was at and where he was headed.

Stokke said in court records Straw wanted people to accept him and thought he could get his clients better rates than the banks.

"He would make statements that he was unable to back up, and he would then have to use the money to pay other people. It all began to fall apart," Stokke said in court records.

By 2006, he was paying $12,000 to $15,000 a month to keep his offices open and make payments to customers. But he wasn't able to generate additional income to keep up.

In an attempt to get money, he allegedly sold South Dakota land belonging to a client without the client's approval.

Some of the money he acquired was used to pay earlier clients, records state.

Some money went to a real estate development partnership.

"This failed as a result of Jack's inability to manage money and lack of sophistication in this type of enterprise," Stokke said in court records.

The government alleges Straw took at least $1 million from his clients' annuity accounts, $180,000 collecting money he told investors would go to stock purchases and $400,000 from selling the South Dakota land sale.

Stokke said Straw didn't spend the money on an extravagant lifestyle. He didn't buy expensive cars and boats and never belonged to a country club.