Sentencings for former Northwest Arkansas developer Brandon Barber and three of his co-defendants that were set for next month have been delayed until the fall.
A sentencing hearing for Barber, 38, was scheduled for Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith before District Judge P.K. Holmes III. According to federal court records, the hearing was rescheduled for Oct. 28.
Barber pleaded guilty in July 2013 to money laundering and conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud in one case filed against him and to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in another case. He has been held in the Washington County jail pending sentencing since June 2013 for violating the terms of his pretrial release.
In papers filed last week, the government has recommended Barber be sentenced to about 20 years in prison.
In one case, Barber was charged with James Van Doren of New York City in a 27-count indictment involving about $30 million in bank loans and his $53 million bankruptcy in 2009. In the other, the government charged that he conspired with others to inflate the value of land to persuade banks to lend them more money, then kicked back the excess money to some participants in the deal.
Sentencing for Van Doren, set for Aug. 18, was re-scheduled for Nov. 3; for Jeff Whorton of Springdale, set for Aug. 20, it was re-scheduled for Nov. 5; and for Brandon Rains of Fayetteville, set for Aug. 21, it was rescheduled for Nov. 6.
Whorton pleaded guilty in August to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering in the scheme with Barber. Rains pleaded guilty in November to lying to federal agents in the scheme.
Van Doren pleaded guilty in August to one count of money laundering that accused him of returning to Barber $20,000 from a $64,000 check Barber had signed over to him, the government alleged, to help Barber hide his assets from his creditors.
Van Doren later asked the court to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming he was not truthful when he admitted to the money laundering charge.
Holmes rejected the request, but Van Doren, through his attorney Gary Coram of Little Rock, filed a motion Monday asking Holmes to reconsider the request to withdraw his guilty plea.
Among other things, he argued that Holmes threw out jury convictions against co-defendant K. Vaughn Knight of Fayetteville because the government had failed to prove Knight guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Knight, Barber's attorney, was convicted in November following a two-week jury trial of conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, bankruptcy fraud, aiding and abetting in making false statements and five counts of money laundering.
Last month, Holmes ordered a new trial for Knight on all but the aiding and abetting in making false statements charge, for which he granted Knight an acquittal.
Metro on 07/30/2014