After serving two years, two months, and 20 days of their four-year prison terms, two members of the former Westhaven Group convicted for defrauding hundreds of real estate investors were granted early release from prison Monday.

Scot Ulmer, 34, and Roger Morr, 68, appeared with their lawyers in Lucas County Common Pleas Court, shackled and dressed in brown jail jumpsuits. When asked to comment, each apologized to the investors who collectively were bilked out of millions of dollars by the now-defunct real estate company.

Judge Stacy Cook then granted their release and ordered both Ulmer and Morr to serve five years on community control. Included in Ulmer's sentence was 90 days in work release.

"In no way does any modification of your sentence minimize the impact to the victims in this case," Judge Cook said. She then added that each man still is responsible for the restitution originally ordered in the case.

Ulmer and Morr were among four Westhaven officials who entered pleas in February, 2009, on multiple charges of securities fraud and making false statements.

Also convicted was Ulmer's father, Westhaven founder John Ulmer, 65, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Anthony Garzony, a former Westhaven president, who was ordered to serve five years of community control and to pay $20,000 in restitution.

The Ulmers were ordered to pay more than $15 million in restitution. Morr was ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution.

As part of the plea agreement, the prosecutor's office vowed not to oppose any request for judicial release after the men served at least half their ordered sentences.Monday, Assistant County Prosecutor Kevin Pituch said the office will honor the agreement and so did not object.

In his motion filed Feb. 1 on behalf of Ulmer, lawyer Alan Konop cited as support for release both the plea agreement as well as letters from supporters and one of the receivers from Westhaven. He also attached a letter from a Maumee company, Great Reward LLC, which promised employment for Ulmer, "enabling him to begin making restitution as agreed to in his plea agreement."

Monday, the president of the company, David Kaiser, confirmed Ulmer has a job waiting for him.

"We believe that everybody deserves a second chance, and we would really like to see him make restitution to the people who were hurt by the Westhaven fiasco," he said. "So our hope is to get him back to work and repay the people who were hurt."

In the business of buying, fixing, and selling properties, Westhaven attracted investors for years with the promise of a secured investment and high returns. Specifically, Westhaven promised that all investor money was backed by the mortgage on a real property.

Only when the company was shuttered by the state in 2005 did many investors discover that property on which they believed they owned a mortgage was in fact in someone else's name or in some cases did not exist.

State regulators said they began looking at Westhaven after The Blade reported a $1 million investment with the company by rare-coin dealer Tom Noe, who is serving an 18-year sentence in state prison for stealing from a pair of $25 million funds he controlled for the Ohio government.

Although Westhaven's assets were liquidated and the proceeds were disbursed, most of the company's investors lost most, if not all, the money they invested, prompting numerous civil lawsuits.

Yesterday, only a few of the investors appeared in court. They declined to speak during and after the proceeding.

Judge Cook explained in court that prior to setting a hearing on the issue of early release, she invited those victims whose cases were the specific counts involved in the plea to come and offer opinions. She noted that those who came and spoke to her were not in court yesterday.

When speaking to Ulmer, she said he has a name that in the community is a negative. She told him he would have to work harder than the others to do what was right because as the youngest of the defendants, he likely would be living with the issue of restitution and community mistrust longer.

In a statement to the judge, Ulmer said he is thankful to have the chance to "make amends."

"Prison was a horrible experience, certainly the worst experience of my life," he said. " … I'm grateful for the opportunity to piece my life back together."

Attached to the motion filed on Morr's behalf were several completion certificates awarded in prison, including First Aid from the American Red Cross as well as several religious courses. Filed Feb. 18 by attorney Rick Kerger, the motion states that Morr is "well aware of the impact his actions and/or inactions had on a number of victims related to this case."

"From the time of his indictment to the present day and beyond, the defendant has remained remorseful for the losses to those victims, some of which he counted as friends," the motion stated

The judge noted in court that Morr was facing serious medical issues and would require treatment outside prison. But she ordered that he retain employment unless medically unable to do so.

The recent requests were the second time the younger Ulmer and Morr each had filed a motion for early release.

Late in 2009, the two men filed the requests but withdrew the motions after the prosecutor's office filed memoranda in opposition. At the time, the office noted that each defendant had served less than a year of his sentence.

Contact Erica Blake at: eblake@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.

First Published June 14, 2011, 5:07 a.m.