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Two Tucson men who pleaded guilty in connection with a $13 million mortgage fraud scheme will be sentenced in coming months.

Carlos Bent, 35, and Frank Padilla, 36, were indicted last August on several charges including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and engaging in illegal monetary transactions in amounts greater than $10,000, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Bent pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the charges as did Padilla in September.

For nearly two years from September 2004 through June 2006 in Tucson and in Southern Arizona, the men found people who had been trying to sell their homes for a while and convinced them to employ them as sales agents, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The owners were told that their properties were worth more than the listed price and that buyers would be found if the owners agreed to a "net listing" of the property in which Padilla and Bent would keep any sales proceeds above the asking price.

The pair then found "straw buyers" who posed as buyers and were given fake documents, including bank statements and employment verification, which were used to qualify for 23 mortgage loans totaling more than $13 million used to purchase 21 properties — although two properties were sold twice.

After the purchase was made, few, if any, payments were made, according to the news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Additionally, the men negotiated 33 checks from title companies, each check totaling more than $10,000

Padilla will be sentenced Feb. 12, and Bent will be sentenced March 26, the release stated. Both are facing five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.