A federal judge in Hartford sentenced a Southbury accountant to five months in prison and five months home confinement Tuesday for his role in a scheme that allowed a troubled Waterbury home heating oil business to obtain millions of dollars in loans from Citizens Bank.

Dale Ciccarelli, 57, who served as an external auditor for the F&S Oil Co., was the third person to plead guilty in the fraud and the second to be sentenced.

The company closed abruptly in 2008, leaving some 2,500 customers who prepaid for their home heating oil out in the cold and bilking Citizens Bank out of an estimated $4.5 million.

Federal prosecutors said Ciccarelli was aware as in the summer of 2006 that F&S president Christopher Carr had overstated the company's accounts receivable statements to obtain a line of credit from the bank.

But at Carr's direction, Ciccarelli falsely certified the company's financial status in reports he provided to the bank in 2006 and 2007, allowing F&S to keep borrowing money until 2008.

Ciccarelli, who pleaded guilty in February to one count each of bank fraud conspiracy and assisting in filing a false federal tax return, also admitted knowing that Richard Stevens, the company owner, and other employees were using company funds for personal expenses and for wages to no-show employees.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Alfred Covello ordered Ciccarelli to serve one year of probation and pay up to $1.7 million restitution to the bank.

Carr pleaded guilty to bank fraud last year and is awaiting sentencing.

Stevens previously pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and in March 2011 was sentenced to five months in prison and five months of home confinement.

jpirro@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342