PICKENS, S.C. - An Upstate legislator says an Upstate highway bearing the name former Lt. Gov. Earle E. Morris Jr. should be renamed after his conviction on fraud charges tied to the bankruptcy of Carolina Investors last year.

The road, S.C. 153, runs through Pickens and Anderson counties in the heartland of financial heartache for 8,000 investors who lost $278 million when Carolina Investors went under in 2003.

Morris was the chairman of the company. A jury found Morris guilty of 22 counts of securities fraud Thursday. On Friday, he was sentenced to 80 years in prison but will serve less than four years because the time will run concurrently. A judge granted Morris a $75,000 bond and Morris will remain free as he appeals the outcome.

The House passed a bill last year to strip his name from the S.C. 153, but Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, stopped the bill in the Senate.

"I asked my colleagues to hold up to avoid making it look like we were prejudging his guilt or innocence," Martin said. Martin led efforts last year in the Legislature to reform the state's securities laws and give the state more power to avoid repeat of Carolina Investors.

This time, "I expect it will get serious discussion," Rep. B. R. Skelton, R-Six Mile, said.

Martin said he would not initiate any push to change the road's name.

There are other considerations, Martin said. For instance, businesses along the road that would be forced to change their address if Morris' name were removed from the highway, he said.

No matter what happens with the road, the lawmakers say the conviction helps close the ordeal.

"What happened at Carolina Investors was a tragedy, probably the worst, financially, in Pickens County since the Great Depression," Skelton said. "It's regrettable that a man with a distinguished career like his has to end like this, but the jury found him guilty and now he has to be responsible for his actions."

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Information from: Anderson Independent-Mail, http://www.andersonsc.com/