EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. (AP) — A south Florida man has been sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme aimed at homeowners trying to avoid loan foreclosure. Thirty-six-year-old Jonathan L. Herbert of Lighthouse Point received a 140-month prison sentence Friday in a southern Illinois federal court district. He had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in December. One of Herbert’s victims lives in Troy, Illinois. Federal prosecutors say Herbert identified himself as a federal loan officer working for non-existent government agencies in cold calls to distressed homeowners. Supposed loan modification payments mailed to UPS mailboxes in Washington, D.C., were instead forwarded to Herbert in Broward County. The federal plea deal requires Herbert to pay restitution in a fraud scheme that authorities say totaled $750,000.