BANGOR – A Milo man will be spared jail time for mail fraud so that he can care for his 7-year-old son, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Ronney L. Vick, 57, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Bangor to six months of home confinement, followed by five years of probation, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Moore said Monday.

U.S. District Judge John Woodcock also ordered Vick to pay more than $10,000 in restitution to the U.S. Postal Service.

As a condition of his probation, Vick must be employed.

Vick faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He pleaded guilty in June to the charge stemming from the online sale of items five years ago.

Federal judges may take exceptional family circumstances into account when fashioning sentences under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Vick could have been sentenced to between zero and 24 months in federal prison depending on his criminal history, according to his plea agreement with prosecutors.

Moore said Monday that he recommended Vick serve no prison time.

Vick began selling items online in 2001. He described them as being in “mint,” or otherwise good condition, according to court documents. When he shipped the items to buyers, Vick would purchase insurance from the U.S. Postal Service for inflated amounts.

When the buyers notified Vick that the items were “damaged,” he was reimbursed for the amount he had stated they were worth when he bought the insurance.

The U.S. Postal Service paid Vick $10,680.90 between March 2001 and August 2002 for items he sold to eight different buyers, according to court documents.