An Ohio business owner who won $1 million after buying lotterytickets with money he stole from the Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union was sentenced in U.S. DistrictCourt in Cleveland Monday to more than three years in federalprison.

U.S. District Court Judge James S. Gwin also ordered John Strunato pay restitution of $2.3 million, which he embezzled from thefailed Cleveland cooperative from 2002 to 2013. The formerrestaurant owner of Concord Township pleaded guilty in November toconspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, making falsestatements and money laundering.

What started as a legitimate overdraft line of credit to coverhis short-term cash flow shortages, snowballed over time intoStruna withdrawing more than $2 million for personal and businessexpenses with no discussion with the credit union on how thosefunds would be paid back, according to court documents.

“These expenses included, among other things, Mr. Struna'sexpenditures on lottery tickets, which he believed would help himrepay most if not all of the funds he had borrowed from Taupa,”Struna's lawyer, Richard H. Blake, wrote in a sentencing memo toGwin. “Mr. Struna did in fact win the Ohio lottery on twooccasions, one time winning one million dollars.”

However, Blake never received the majority of that million, dueto related litigation and attorney fees.

Blake said Struna had a long-term relationship with Alex R. Spirikaitis, the former president/CEO of Taupa LithuanianCU. He was the central figure of the multi-million fraud schemeand was sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison inDecember 2014.

Spirikaitis facilitated the theft by enabling co-conspiratorssuch as Struna and four other individuals to steal $15 million froma credit union that had only $23.6 million in assets. The NCUA andthe Ohio Department of Commerce took possession of Taupa Lithuanianin July 2013 and placed it into receivership because of insolvency.The Cleveland cooperative served about 1,150 members.

“For better or worse, Mr. Struna believed Mr. Spirikaitis wasauthorized to advance funds on behalf of the credit union and Mr.Struna took full advantage of his relationship with theinstitution,” Blake wrote. “At some point in time, Taupa stoppedsending statements to Mr. Struna and Mr. Struna took no steps toestablish a payment plan or even confirm how much he actually owedto the credit union.”

Struna forfeited the restaurant, a Florida condominium and a2014 Mazda because they were purchased with money he stole from thecredit union, according to court documents.

Also sentenced to federal prison was Vytas Apanavicius of Mentor, Ohio who worked as a contractbookkeeper for Taupa CU and stole nearly $1 million from it. He wassentenced to 21 months in November 2014. And in February 2014,former teller Michael Ruksenas was sentenced to 17 months infederal prison for stealing more than $481,000 from the creditunion.

On March 13, GaryChaney of Streetsboro, and Patrick Bruckman of ChesterTownship, both Cleveland suburbs, are scheduled to be sentencedon one count of conspiracy to commit theft or embezzlement from acredit union. They used their personal and corporate accounts atthe cooperative to embezzle nearly $1.9 million from Taupa CU,according to court documents.