Georgia Preacher Receives 17 1/2 Year Sentence

Abraham Kennard, a former preacher who was convicted in February (see earlier post here) for defrauding over 1,600 churches, most of them with small, of over $9 million with promises of high investment returns, received a long term of imprisonment: 17 1/2 years.  According to an AP story (here), U.S. District Judge Harold Murphy stated at the sentencing: "These people lost everything they had. Some even lost their church. The court cannot ignore that."  Given the amount of the loss and the nature of the victims, I don't think the severity of the sentence should come as a surprise. (ph)