The attorney for one of the executives of the failed BestBank said "the system failed" his client and asked for a sentence of probation.

U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch disagreed.

"Contrary to the system failing the defendants, the defendants failed the system," he said. "It's not the role of bank officers to deceive the (Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.) and state banking regulators."

Matsch sentenced the two former executives, Thomas Alan Boyd and Jack O. Grace Jr., to 90 months and 72 months, respectively.

Boyd was the president and Grace was the chief financial officer of Boulder-based BestBank, which collapsed under the strain of a $200 million portfolio of high-risk credit-card accounts.

They and a third executive, Edward P. Mattar III, were convicted in February on 15 of the 90 counts they faced.

Prosecutors alleged that millions of dollars of delinquent loans in the portfolio were hidden by BestBank management. The bank managers received performance bonuses in 1998 while hiding the losses.

Two other men, Douglas Baetz and Glenn Gallant, were convicted in the fraud case. They were the co-owners of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Century Financial, which partnered with BestBank. Baetz and Gallant were sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this month. Mattar will be sentenced Oct. 19.

Boyd's attorney, Virginia L. Grady, argued that Boyd and BestBank were victimized by vengeful federal banking regulators.

Grace's attorney, Daniel J. Sears, argued that Grace was less culpable than the other participants and cooperated with federal investigators.

While Boyd declined to speak before the court, Grace called Friday "the worst day of my life." He said "a couple of footnotes in a financial statement might have altered the path," but added, "I'm not going to live out my life in bitterness or self-pity."

Each man received a $15,000 fine. Boyd must forfeit $4.74 million in ill-gotten gains, while Grace was ordered to forfeit $92,643, the amount of a performance bonus awarded to him after he deceived the board and created a false financial statement, Matsch said.