Under a deal with prosecutors, Swisshelm, now 70, pleaded guilty to one count each of bank fraud and money laundering in July 2015. He admitted to submitting false documents to Great Southern Bank to get four commercial loans totaling $5.5 million in 2011.

Court documents indicate the plea agreement prosecutors reached with Swisshelm called for him to plead guilty to the two counts in exchange for the government agreeing not to bring additional charges.

The maximum sentence for bank fraud is 30 years in prison, and the maximum sentence for money laundering is 10 years in prison. Sentencing guidelines, which are calculated using a point system, indicated that Swisshelm's "advisory sentencing range" would be about five or six years in prison.

Under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed not to push for a sentence above that range, and Swisshelm and his attorney agreed not to push for a sentence below it, according to court documents.

Circuit Judge Roger Wollman wrote in his opinion Wednesday that despite "the plea agreement's unambiguous terms," Swisshelm violated it by asking the court to impose a below-guidelines sentence, and by submitting to the court letters from members of the community, many of which asked the judge to impose a sentence of probation or home confinement.

Wollman wrote that prosecutors objected to Swisshelm's actions at the sentencing hearing, but that the judge overseeing the hearing allowed them to continue.

Wollman wrote that Swisshelm subsequently conceded that arguing for a below-guidelines sentence had violated the agreement, but that Swisshelm said it was "inadvertent." Wollman said Swisshelm argued the breach didn't affect the judge's decision and that there was no reason not to assign to the same judge if resentencing were required.

A panel of three judges, including Wollman, on Wednesday rejected Swisshelm's argument, calling the breach "material, prejudicial and not harmless," and sent the case to be resentenced in front of a different judge. The new judge can still consider the letters, Wollman wrote, but only for the purpose of determining a sentence within the guidelines range.

Wollman wrote that the three judges "have not yet decided the appropriate remedy" for Swisshelm's breach of the plea agreement.

Documents filed when Swisshelm was originally charged indicate that he once owned and operated Springfield's Ebbets Field restaurant, as well as a Burger King, Macaroni Grill, San Francisco Oven, McAlister's Deli and Fog City Coffee.

Swisshelm's son, Bruce Swisshelm II, 45, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to misprision — or withholding information on a crime — in connection with his father's case. He was sentenced to four weeks in custody and five years of probation and is not affected by Wednesday's ruling.