Jack Witherspoon Hines of Brewton was sentenced Thursday in federal court to three years of probation, three months after he pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement pertaining to a bank loan.
The sentence means Hines will not serve any time in prison. Court officials said a hearing to determine any restitution Hines will have to pay has been set for Jan. 18.
Hines pleaded guilty in April to the charge.
At the time, U.S. Attorney Kenyen Brown said that, as part of the plea deal, Hines admitted he pledged shares of stock as collateral for a loan from the Bank of Brewton when he had already pledged the same stock for a loan from another bank, which maintained the original stock certificate. According to federal officials, Hines falsely represented that the stock had been pledged as collateral only for the Bank of Brewton loan.
Hines could have faced a maximum of five years in prison.
The maximum fine for such a charge is $250,000.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation investigated this case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Bordenkircher.