LOUISVILLE -- A 63-year-old man who concocted a scheme to induce people to invest in real estate business by promising returns on investments from 10 to 15 percent was sentenced today to three years in prison, according to federal authorities.

Russell N. Daniel was also ordred to pay more than $2.7 million in restitution.

 In court, federal officials stated that Daniel admitted that in one scam he solicited more than $700,000 to purchase houses purportedly located in Prospect, Shelbyville, Goshen, and Lexington, Kentucky, as well as Jeffersonville, Indiana, when in fact the addresses were fictitious. Daniel used the money received from investors in these fictitious transactions to fund unrelated matters, including using the investment monies to make payments of promised returns on unrelated investments.