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Former county attorney sentenced to four-year prison term
By Lynn Hotaling
A veteran Sylva lawyer who pleaded guilty in April to federal charges of embezzlement and money laudering was sentenced last week to 51 months in prison.
Tom Jones, 61, of Sylva received the active sentence Oct. 6 in federal court in Asheville. The prison time was ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen.
Jones' four years and three months in prison are to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
Jones was sentenced Tuesday (Oct. 11) in Sylva on state charges of embezzlement but will not serve additional prison time.
Jones pleaded guilty to the state charges in July.
Superior Court Judge Clarence Horton sentenced Jones to a minimum of four years and two months but ordered that he serve the time concurrently with his federal sentence.
During his Tuesday court appearance, Jones said he was sorry for what he had done.
According to court officals, Jones said he had dishonored the practice of law and betrayed his community.
Both the federal and state embezzlement cases stem from charges Jones stole more than $300,000 from the guardianship account of Woodrow Justice, a mentally disabled World War II veteran. Jones was appointed Justice's guardian in 1969. Jones is believed to have taken money from the account starting as early as March 1986 and continuing through December 2000.
Jones was indicted on the embezzlement charges on Oct. 6, 2003, while he was awaiting sentencing after he was convicted in a Bryson City federal courtroom. A jury found in April 2003 that Jones was guilty of bank fraud, making false statements to a federally-insured bank and conspiracy to commit those crimes.
Both federal cases against Jones were merged for sentencing. In addition to the active prison time, Jones was ordered to pay a total of $778,379 in restitution to the Blue Ridge Savings Bank and to the insurance company that held the bond for his trusteeship in his law practice.
Jones was ordered to report to the U.S. Marshals Office Oct. 7 to begin serving his sentence. Information as to the site of his incarceration was not available before press time Wednesday.
Jones, a former attorney for Jackson County, former member of the county Board of Elections and former president of the Jackson County Bar Association, was disbarred in February by the Disciplinary Committee of the North Carolina State Bar.
Admitted to the bar in 1968, Jones practiced law in Sylva until the N.C. State Bar suspended his law license in August 2003.
The April 2003 convictions involved fraudulent real estate transactions Jones undertook on behalf of Chig Cagle, Sylva's former Ford dealer.
Cagle pleaded guilty in September 2001 to defrauding Blue Ridge Savings Bank, which was founded by U.S. Congressman Charles Taylor, R-Brevard, of more than $1 million. Cagle, a former Jackson County Republican Party chairman and longtime financial supporter of Taylor's campaigns, is awaiting sentencing on the federal charges.
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