Former Delaware bank exec pleads guilty

WILMINGTON, Del. - A former Wilmington Trust executive accused of scheming with another bank executive to make improper loans to each other from their respective banks entered a guilty plea in federal court Monday.

Brian D. Bailey, 51, appeared before judge Richard G. Andrews in Wilmington.

Bailey initially pleaded not guilty after being indicted in February on federal bank fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges.

But attorneys later reached a plea agreement relating to the indictment, as well as a separate criminal information.

The indictment of Bailey, a former vice president and Delaware market manager for Wilmington Trust, is one of several stemming from an ongoing federal investigation of lending practices at the failed bank.

Bailey, a resident of Middletown, Del., faces a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine for each of two counts.