Eric Wooten, who ran the short-lived Galloway's Blueberry Hill restaurant near the Botetourt Athletic Center, was sentenced to 33 months in prison Friday by a federal judge who repeatedly called him a con artist.

"It's the type of crime where they keep doing it," U.S. District Court Judge James Turk said of Wooten, 34, who pleaded guilty in April to one count of wire fraud and one count of making a false statement to influence a financial institution. "He didn't just do one. There's a whole pattern."

Wooten's case involved layers of deception. He collected $455,000 in an insurance settlement for a leg injury that investigators suspected he faked, turning in a falsified tax return to misrepresent income he supposedly lost. He put false information on applications for loans for a Mini Cooper and Hummer -- then torched the Mini Cooper, according to investigators, and filed an insurance claim. He'd acquired a new Social Security number that let him dodge a bad credit record.

"I hope I'm wrong," Turk continued. "But I think when he gets out, he'll try to be right back to this type of behavior."

Much of Wooten's hearing in U.S. District Court in Roanoke revolved around whether he had to repay the $455,000 insurance settlement.

Randy Cargill of the federal public defender's office said doctors verified Wooten suffered an injury of some sort, so he was due some amount of settlement. Since Liberty Mutual, the insurance company involved in both the injury claim and the car fire, had not submitted a sworn statement detailing its loss or sent anyone to testify, it should have to file its own lawsuit against Wooten to work out how much money was owed, Cargill said.

Turk ordered about $18,700 in restitution and said Liberty Mutual would have to recover money on its own. Defense and prosecution agreed Wooten had no significant resources to repay anyone fully.

Turk said he could not go along with Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Mott's recommendation -- part of Wooten's plea agreement -- to set a sentence at the lower end of the range suggested by federal sentencing guidelines. Turk said that though he rarely sentenced at the top of the guidelines, he thought Wooten actually deserved more than the 27 to 33 months the guidelines called for.

Turk imposed a 33-month prison sentence to be followed by five years of supervision by the federal probation office.

Turk allowed Wooten to return to Cocoa, Fla., where he, his wife and their two children have been living with relatives, to await notice from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons about where to report for incarceration.

Wooten told Turk he was sorry for his actions and that he'd turned to fraud after a venture into real estate was hobbled by the economic downtown and his health problems. But Wooten said he'd now realized his behavior's effect on his friends and family.

"That's wrenching, as a father," Wooten said.

Wooten still faces charges of arson and embezzlement that are scheduled to be heard in Botetourt County Circuit Court in September.