The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, 11/11/8
James A. Draper, a Tennessee man found guilty in the Mississippi Beef Processors scandal, has been ordered to pay $187,725 in restitution to the State Auditor’s Office.
In July, he was found guilty of defrauding the state and laundering that amount through his own personal account in 2002 in connection with claims about equipment purchases for the facility in Yalobusha County.
Draper, 59, will report to a federal penitentiary Jan. 5 to begin serving a 30-month sentence imposed by U.S. District Chief Judge Michael P. Mills.
His sentencing order, filed Friday in Oxford, noted he must pay $50,000 and the rest in equal monthly installments while in prison with payments to begin immediately.
If any balance remains after he gets out of prison, he will continue monthly installments until it’s paid off.
Four other defendants in the beef plant fraud, which cost Mississippi taxpayers some $55 million, have pleaded guilty.
