Morris sentenced to 44 months

Earle Morris listens as he is sentenced to prison in a Greenville County Courtroom Friday morning. One of his defense attornies listens to the right. Staff/Owen Riley Jr. e-mail this story to a friend Related Related stories: • Carolina Investors building sold to anonymous investor Online extra • Listen to Morris ask for leniency (Windows Media Player required) • Listen to the judge's sentencing (Windows Media Player required) Previous coverage • Morris verdict opens emotions floodgate • Morris found guilty on all counts Photo gallery • Morris sentenced to 44 months

Circuit Judge James W. Johnson Jr. sentenced Morris to 44 months on each of 21 counts of securities fraud and 36 months on scheming to mislead investors. The sentences will run concurrently.

It was not immediately clear whether Morris will appeal and how any such appeal might affect when he must report to prison.

Morris was found guilty of securities fraud Thursday, the second person convicted of misleading investors who put their money in the small-town financial institution only to see it fail in a multimillion dollar calamity.

A six-man, six-woman jury found Morris, 76, guilty on 22 counts of securities fraud for telling investors to keep their money in Carolina Investors even though he knew it was sliding into insolvency. An estimated 12,000 residents, many elderly and from the Upstate, lost $278 million when the company closed last year.

State Attorney General Henry McMaster said the investigation of Carolina Investors and its parent company, HomeGold Financial Inc., is continuing. But he would not comment on the possibility of more action by the state grand jury, which has indicted three former company officers, including Morris.

Morris had faced up to 213 years in prison and more than $1 million in fines, according to the Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted the case.

Larry Owen, 61, Carolina Investors' former president, pleaded guilty in July to 22 counts of securities fraud and is awaiting sentencing. His wife, Anne Owen, 51, a former Carolina Investors senior vice president of investments, is awaiting trail on securities fraud charges.

HomeGold was a finance company that specialized in originating, selling and servicing subprime first- and second-lien residential mortgages. Its business was funded through loans from Carolina Investors, which sold unsecured notes and debentures, according to Securities and Exchange Commission documents.

Investors are expected to recoup about 18 cents on the dollar from the sale of assets and liquidation of the company, bankruptcy officials have said.