A Grove City man pleaded guilty to 11 federal charges Thursday but was not sentenced as planned because of a last-minute scheduling quirk.

James R. Clark, 39, of 416 W. Washington St., pleaded guilty to 10 counts of bank fraud and one count of failing to file a federal income tax return, said Assistant U.S. Attorney James Moroney.

In return for the plea, the U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped 14 counts of bank fraud and two counts of failing to file income tax returns.

In May, Clark consented to have a pre-sentencing investigation conducted in preparation for changing his plea from not guilty, Moroney said.

Judge Lesley Wells, Cleveland, was to hear his plea and sentence him but was called away from the courtroom and she assigned the plea hearing to Magistrate Judge William Baughman, Moroney said.

Magistrate judges are not allowed to sentence on felony charges, Moroney said. Ms. Wells will set a sentencing hearing, probably within a month, he said.

Under federal sentencing guidelines, Clark will serve 30 to 37 months in prison, Moroney said. He also could be fined.

The bank fraud counts charge Clark, an investment adviser, with defrauding investors of about $620,000 and using the money for personal expenses, such as cars, country club dues, parties and furs and jewelry for his wife, Moroney said.

The indictment, handed down in April, said Clark worked under the name R.L. Clark and Co. in Canfield and Boardman, both in Ohio.

He advised clients on investment opportunities, including stock or ownership interests and loans in businesses, according the indictment, which covered early 1993 through Feb. 21, 1997.

Clark, formerly of Salem, Ohio and Canfield, "lulled" investors into believing investments were profitable and paid small amounts as profits or loan repayments.

Instead of investing the money, he spent it on "extravagant living expenses" and his business.

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