AUGUSTA – A funeral director who looted the burial trust funds of scores of trusting families will be spending the next year in jail.

Andrew L. Pratt, 53, of Windsor, the former owner of funeral homes in Camden and Windsor, was sentenced to concurrent five-year prison terms with all but one year suspended and four years probation on charges of theft by unauthorized taking and theft by deception. He also was ordered to make restitution of $144,491 to the families he swindled. Pratt pleaded guilty to the charges last August.

Pratt was sentenced in Kennebec County Superior Court on Wednesday. In handing down the sentences, Justice Nancy Mills admonished Pratt for betraying the trust of those who gave him money in advance for funerals. Mills said Pratt preyed on people during the periods when they were at their most vulnerable.

Although Pratt’s attorney, Nathaniel S. Levy of Brunswick, suggested that he receive a three-year jail term with all but 30 days suspended, Mills accepted the sentence recommended by Assistant Attorney General Lara M. Nomani.

The case against the former owner of Gray and Pratt Funeral Home in Windsor and Pratt and Laite Funeral Home in Camden developed in 2001 when families who had paid for funeral services in advance began to discover that the money they had set aside in mortuary trust funds was missing. A subsequent investigation determined that Pratt embezzled from as many as 90 separate accounts.

In the sentencing memorandum filed with the court, defense attorney Levy acknowledged that Pratt “made some serious errors” in the way he ran his business during the late 1990s. Levy said Pratt eventually found himself unable both to meet his overhead and expenses while maintaining his standard of living.

Pratt began drawing from the trust accounts to supplement his income and, in other cases, never set up the accounts but simply pocketed the cash, Levy acknowledged. He said Pratt intended to pay the money back.

“He never intended to harm his clients,” Levy told the court. He noted that even though he was stealing the money, Pratt always managed to pay for funerals when his clients passed away.

“He was in effect borrowing on the future,” said Levy.

Nomani described Pratt’s behavior as a “persistent and pervasive pattern” of misconduct. She noted that state law required Pratt to deposit trust accounts within 10 days of their receipt and that investigators found numerous occasions where he failed to follow those provisions.

Besides the jail term and order of restitution, Justice Mills noted that once Pratt leaves prison and begins serving his probation, he must provide the state with:

. All asset and financial information, including tax data.

. Not engage in any nursing or funeral service business without being licensed by the state.

. Not work in any fiduciary company or hold any money held in trust without permission from his probation officer.

. Any payments from promissory notes must be applied to Pratt’s restitution obligations.

Before the resolution to his criminal charges, Pratt agreed in December to class-action settlement of a civil lawsuit that provided $250,000 to Camden-area families who were affected by his duplicity. Pratt sold his home to pay the settlement.