PHOENIX  — Three men who pleaded guilty to participating in a mortgage fraud scheme that focused on high-end properties in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, Ariz., have been sentenced to federal prison terms.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Arizona says the three were given lenient sentences of 27 to 30 months for the wire fraud conspiracy charges because they cooperated in another mortgage fraud investigation.

The two men who received 27 months were 32-year-old Vincent James Vendittelli of Scottsdale and 32-year-old Jason Mark Chrzanowski of Farmington. The lengthier sentence was given to 37-year-old Henry Oliver Ford of West Palm Beach, Fla. He’s also known as Cleothus Lefty Jackson.

The three worked together to recruit buyers who took out bigger-than-needed home loans, then selling the properties in about a year. Lenders lost millions.