A federal judge granted a degree of leniency in sentencing a real estate fraud defendant Monday out of consideration for the man’s 16-year-old daughter.

When John J. Packard, 66, begins his 2 1/2-year sentence Sept. 16, both the girl’s parents will be behind bars.

The girl’s mother – and Packard’s ex-wife – is Nanette Johnston, who is serving a life sentence for persuading her ex-NFL lover to murder William McLaughlin, her wealthy, live-in boyfriend, to cover up a theft.

“I have had no other case where a teenaged daughter would essentially become a foster child or an orphan. This girl’s mother is in prison for life,” said defense lawyer William Kopeny, pleading that Packard be sentenced to home confinement rather than prison. “There are no grandparents, aunts or uncles to take this girl.”

Packard, co-founder of Irvine-based Pacific Property Assets, pleaded guilty to one count of fraud stemming from the firm’s $193 million collapse in 2009.

The former executive, who testified on his ex-wife’s behalf at her murder trial, was back on the stand in August as the prosecution’s star witness against his former partner, PPA CEO Michael J. Stewart, 68.

Stewart is serving a 14-year sentence stemming from accusations that PPA morphed into a Ponzi scheme in the face of debts on some 50 over-leveraged apartment buildings it owned.

Prosecutors alleged that about 650 mostly elderly investors lost a total of $169 million in savings and retirement funds when PPA declared bankruptcy. Lenders lost an additional $24 million or more.

Packard, who began negotiating his guilty plea before he and Stewart were indicted in early 2014, testified that PPA misled investors, falsely claiming its finances were stable and that it had a contract to buy apartments.

In early 2009, PPA raised more than $9 million for an Opportunity Fund that promised huge interest rates to investors putting up cash to buy apartments at bargain prices. The money was used to pay salaries and operating expenses instead.

The judge and lawyers in the case noted Monday that Packard had a lower level of culpability because it was Stewart, a lawyer, who dealt directly with investors. Packard dealt mainly with lenders and oversaw property management.

“It was Mr. Stewart who stood face to face with people and asked them to reload” their investments, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Sagel.

The prosecutor and a probation officer agreed that Packard deserved a reduced sentence, in part, because of his daughter. The probation officer sought a two-year sentence, and Sagel suggested 27 months.

Sentencing guidelines dictated a term of 31/2 to 41/4 years, U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney said. But he reduced the sentence to 21/2 years, preferably in a minimum-security facility, because of Packard’s cooperation in Stewart’s prosecution and because of his daughter’s situation

But, the judge determined, Packard needed to serve time.

“Many people were hurt by the fraud,” Carney said. “They lost their savings and retirement. They lost their security. … I believe a custodial sentence is necessary to deter others from engaging in such fraud.”

Packard, dressed in a light-gray suit and black turtleneck shirt, had just one brief comment.

“I’m very sorry about all the losses,” he said.

Staff writer Sean Emery contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7734 or jcollins@ocregister.com