An Ellicott City man who was employed by one mortgage company and ran another on the side pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $100,000, money he took from a homeowner immediately after helping her with a cash-out refinancing.

David Yong Park, 43, was sentenced to five years in jail with all but 18 months suspended, the Maryland attorney general's office said. Baltimore County Circuit Judge John J. Nagle III also ordered him to repay the victim $116,556.

In 2007, when Park was working for Big Lending Inc. and was president of Capital City Financial Group Inc., both in Ellicott City, he helped a homeowner refinance with a larger mortgage to turn her home equity into cash. She planned to use the money to buy a commercial condo for her business, the attorney general said. But right after settlement, Park took the money from the title company and spent it within two weeks on himself and his business.

Attorney Paul A. Capriolo, who represented Park, said his client "made no excuses. ... It's absolutely his intention to see that that gets repaid."

Big Lending is a licensed mortgage company, but neither Capital City Financial Group nor Park was licensed to work in the business, according to the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Park started the firm less than a year and a half before the theft.

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