GREENVILLE — A state judge gave former Lt. Gov. Earle E. Morris Jr. a 44-month prison sentence for lying to investors in the company he chaired, but Morris remains out of jail pending an appeal.

Friday’s close to the 17-day trial provided no happy endings for anyone:

• The few investors who spoke wanted Judge James W. Johnson to hand down a long prison term to Morris, who repeatedly said the Carolina Investors Inc. was financially solid in the months before it collapsed.

• Prosecutors wanted Morris to go directly to prison.

• Defense attorney Joel Collins asked for mercy, reminding the court of his 76-year-old client’s lifetime of helping South Carolina’s disadvantaged.

• Morris apologized to his family and to the investors, repeating what he has said about not having lived a peaceful day since the company failed in 2003.

“My remorse will be with me until my last day,” he said. “All I can say is I’m sorry, and I hope I receive forgiveness.”

Morris drew 21 sentences of 44 months each, plus a single sentence of 36 months. Johnson ordered that the sentences be served at same time, meaning the one-time lieutenant governor and comptroller general would be eligible for parole in 11 months.

Johnson said the character, honesty and integrity bestowed on Morris by several defense witnesses were, ironically, “the same characteristics that led investors to rely on the defendant. And they were let down.”

His three daughters, former wife Jane and current wife Carol, cried. His son, Earle E. Morris III, held his head in his hands.

Sheriff’s deputies escorted Morris from the courtroom after sentence was passed, but only to a holding room in the courthouse.

As soon as Johnson issued his sentence, Morris’ defense team started the paperwork to keep him out of jail.

Morris’ family posted a $75,000 bond, allowing him to remain free pending an appeal. A member of Collins’ law firm filed the initial paperwork with the Court of Criminal Appeals in Columbia.

The outcome was not what many investors or the attorney general had in mind.

“We asked for a substantial prison sentence, and the judge gave him what he gave him,” said Attorney General Henry McMaster, who attended the sentencing hearing.

Wallace Jones, one of the investors called to testify against Morris, said his loss in Carolina Investors had delayed his retirement.

“I thought I was fixed where I wouldn’t have to work anymore,” Jones said.

His story is common among the 8,000-plus investors who lost money when the company Morris chaired failed in 2003. Jones is 76, without his life’s savings, and working four days a week to cover his monthly prescription drug bill of $650.

“I had confidence in Carolina Investors,” he said. “I lost everything I had.”

Willie Mae Bridwell, an investor who testified against Morris, complimented the judge and jury for their verdict and sentence.

“I lost my husband before this happened, and I trusted Mr. Morris,” she said.

The team of prosecutors, led by Sherri Lydon, chief of the state grand jury, did not relish the victory.

“The state made no apologies for prosecuting Mr. Morris, but we took no delight in that prosecution,” Lydon said.

“I have always recognized in this case there is no happy ending. No happy ending for the investors; no happy ending for Mr. Morris.”

Reach Werner at (803) 771-8509 or bwerner@thestate.com