Another Miss. beef plant figure indicted

Another Miss. beef plant figure indicted

	Published : Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:10 By : Agencies Print this Story

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A former refrigeration sales representative was indicted Tuesday on federal charges that he helped steal $187,725 from Mississippi in a scheme involving a failed beef plant that cost taxpayers millions.

James A. Draper of Mount Juliet, Tenn., faces 30 years if convicted on both counts in the indictment. He is just the latest of several people charged in connection with the failure of Mississippi Beef Processors LLC. Bond was set at $20,000.

The idea for the plant was pitched to officials as a way to provide an economic boon to north Mississippi while giving ranchers a place to process cull cattle. Instead, the failure of the 140,000-square-foot facility in 2004 left 400 people out of work and Mississippi stuck with $55 million in state-backed loans. The state also was left with some expensive equipment that didn't work.

Between December 2002 and January 2003, the indictment said, Draper and former Mississippi Beef owner Richard N. Hall Jr. devised a scheme to create phony invoices for refrigeration equipment that was never purchased or delivered.

Draper deposited the $187,725 into his own bank account, the indictment said. He allegedly kept $20,000 and wrote 'a $167,725 kickback check' to Hall.

Draper could not be reached for comment. A message left at the home of a J. Draper in Tennessee was not immediately returned. His attorney's name was not immediately available.

Hall, a Tennessee businessman, reported to a federal prison in October in Texas after admitting that he kept $751,000 in public and corporate funds for himself during the debacle. He is serving an eight-year sentence.

'When this investigation was initiated, we anticipated that this would be a lengthy, painstaking process for all involved,' said Charles Frederick Brink, the FBI agent in charge of Mississippi. 'We continue to encourage anyone with any knowledge of wrongdoing in connection with the Mississippi Beef Processors plant to come forward.'

The indictment does not say for which company Draper worked.

Rick Farmer, the owner of a company called Refrigeration Systems in Columbus, Ohio, said Draper no longer works there. He referred calls to a company attorney, Ken Cookson, who did not immediately respond to a message left at his office.

Hall received the longest sentence so far. He also was ordered to pay $751,000 in restitution. Soon after his sentencing in August, he paid $173,000 -- the same amount of a kickback he got from construction company owner Sean Carothers.

Carothers, whose firm built the plant, was sentenced to 21 months in prison, a $40,000 fine and $250,000 in restitution. Prosecutors say Carothers admitted paying Hall the $173,000 kickback and helping him hide the money.

Both Hall and Carothers are thought to have cooperated in the investigation.