HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - The Latest on sentencing of two men on corruption charges in Hattiesburg (all times local):
5 p.m.
Hattiesburg pastor Kenneth Fairley has been sentenced to three years in prison for stealing federal housing money.
U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett sentenced Fairley Monday, local media report, also fining him $30,000 and ordering $60,000 in restitution.
A close political ally of Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, Fairley will turn himself into prison within 60 days.
Starrett overruled objections by Fairley’s attorney to a sentencing report prepared by a federal probation officer.
Fairley was convicted Sept. 12 on three counts of conspiracy and theft for skimming money from a federal housing program.
Co-defendant Artie Fletcher was sentenced to three years’ probation and $69,000 in restitution Monday.
Fairley once served as the agent for University of Oklahoma running back Marcus Dupree, who’s from Mississippi. Dupree later sued Fairley. The mayor and the running back aren’t related.
Sentencing was delayed from Monday until January for former Forrest County Chief Deputy Charles Bolton and his wife, Linda Bolton. They were convicted of tax charges in a separate case.
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10:45 a.m.
The first of four people has been sentenced to probation in a Hattiesburg corruption case.
WDAM-TV reports (https://bit.ly/2hRKrsv ) that U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett on Monday sentenced developer Artie Fletcher to three years’ probation and $69,000 restitution to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Fletcher pleaded guilty to failing to report a felony. The Rev. Kenneth Fairley, his co-defendant, was convicted Sept. 12 on three counts of conspiracy and theft for skimming money from a federal housing program. He’ll also be sentenced Monday.
Separately, then-Forrest County Chief Deputy Charles Bolton was convicted of four counts of tax evasion and five counts of filing a false tax report relating to income at his businesses. His wife, Linda Bolton, was convicted on five counts of filing a false tax report.
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1:15 a.m.
A Hattiesburg pastor, Forrest County’s former chief deputy and two others are set to be sentenced Monday on corruption charges.
U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett will set punishments for the Rev. Kenneth Fairley, Artie Fletcher, Charles Bolton and Linda Bolton.
Fairley was convicted Sept. 12 on three counts of conspiracy and theft in a federal case involving money skimmed from a federal housing program. Fletcher, indicted with Fairley, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of failing to report a felony.
In a separate case, then-Chief Deputy Charles Bolton was convicted of four counts of tax evasion and five counts of filing a false tax report relating to checks written to his restaurant and liquor store. His wife, Linda Bolton, was convicted on five counts of filing a false tax report.
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