3 Keating Cohorts Given Probation : Courts: Federal judges laud them for helping convict the former operator of Irvine-based Lincoln Savings & Loan.

Three cohorts of Charles H. Keating Jr. were put on probation Monday by federal judges who lauded them for admitting their guilt early and for helping to convict the former operator of Lincoln Savings & Loan.

Raymond C. Fidel, a former president of the Irvine thrift, and Ernest C. Garcia II, an Arizona developer and major borrower, were each put on three years’ probation for their roles in the nation’s costliest thrift failure.

Mark S. Sauter, a former lawyer at Lincoln’s parent company, American Continental Corp. in Phoenix, was put on probation for four years and ordered to work 2,000 hours of community service during that time.

U.S. District Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer gave special credit to Fidel, saying prosecutors owe a huge debt to the Newport Beach resident for becoming the first employee to plead guilty. That break with the domineering Keating, who was American Continental’s chairman, set a precedent for other insiders who eventually pleaded guilty, Pfaelzer said.

“I don’t think you could have done it without him,” Pfaelzer told Asst. U.S. Atty. David A. Sklansky, one of the Keating prosecutors.

Prosecutors had recommended a three-month prison term and three years of probation. Fidel, 36, pleaded guilty to two securities fraud counts involving sales of risky American Continental bonds at Lincoln branches at a time when the parent company was heading into bankruptcy.

Pfaelzer also put Garcia, 36, on probation for his guilty plea to one bank fraud count. Testifying for the prosecution, Garcia described fraudulent land and securities deals that created phony profits, making Keating’s empire look healthy. Prosecutors had recommended a five-year probation term.

Sauter, sentenced by U.S. District Judge Robert A. Takasugi, had pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to fool regulators about how documents purporting to back up Lincoln’s loans were stuffed into files long after the money was disbursed. He also pleaded guilty later to embezzling $1 million himself.

Prosecutors had recommended a three-year prison term for Sauter because his failure to tell them at first about the embezzlement ruined his value as a witness at trial. However, they pointed out, he had shown remorse and had helped the Resolution Trust Corp., the federal agency that liquidates failed thrifts, recover $112 million from three law firms.

Keating and his son, Charles H. Keating III, were convicted last January on racketeering, conspiracy and fraud charges stemming from the 1989 collapse of Lincoln, which is expected to cost taxpayers $3.4 billion to clean up.

The elder Keating, 70, is serving 12 years, seven months in prison, as well as 10 years for his previous state securities fraud conviction. His son was sentenced to eight years, one month on the federal conviction.

Other Keating associates who pleaded guilty in cooperation deals with the government are Judy J. Wischer, former American Continental president for whom no sentencing date has been set; Robin S. Symes, former Lincoln chairman, to be sentenced Jan. 10 with prosecutors recommending probation; and Robert M. Wurzelbacher Jr., a corporate senior vice president and Keating’s son-in-law, sentenced to three years, four months in prison.

Also, Andrew F. Ligget, the corporate chief financial officer, was sentenced to two years in prison; and Bruce F. Dickson, a corporate senior vice president, was sentenced to five years of probation.