Southaven contractor set to change plea

Source: The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.迷你倉出租Aug. 29--A former Southaven city contractor accused of bank fraud is set for a plea change hearing next month.James Malcolm " Jamie " Harris Jr, 53, of Hernando pleaded not guilty to two counts of loan and credit application fraud and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States when he was indicted on the federal charges in January.Harris, through his former development company, RH Holdings, is accused of submitting fake documents and making false statements to Citizens National Bank to get money from a $5 million loan. The loan was for a Southaven subdivision that his development company never built.Harris ' former business partner in RH Holdings, DeSoto County developer Chuck Roberts, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in the matter earlier this year. Last month, Roberts was sentenced to 10 days in prison.A trial date was set for Harris on Sept. 9 but the matter is now scheduled for a plea change hearing on Sept. 10. Harris is expected to plead to count one of the迷你倉three-count indictment, according to court documents.On that charge, the indictment said Harris submitted four fake invoices to the bank claiming that his company, M&H Construction, needed money from the bank loan to construct box culverts at the subdivision when Southaven had already paid his company $181,544, to build culverts.Harris was president of M&H until he filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2011. The company restructured and is now run by his son.From 2004 to 2010, the Southaven firm received millions in contract work from the city for road, utility line and other clearing, grubbing and grading work.The bank fraud charge is punishable by a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison or a minimum of five years supervised release. The charge also carries a $1 million fine.The hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. in federal court in Aberdeen, Miss.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) Visit The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) at .commercialappeal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉