A Sequatchie County developer who helped build homes on Fredonia Mountain was sentenced today to 21 months in federal prison for defrauding a lender before his building business collapsed during the Great Recession.
Craig Edward Smith, one of the owners of Vision Homes and a partner in the Tennessee Land Co., that developed Fredonia Mountain near Dunlap, will report to prison on Nov. 30 after he plead guilty to a felony charge of diverting money lent to him for his own business. U.S. District Court Judge Harry "Sandy" Mattice also ordered Smith to pay back $200,000 in restitution for part of his unpaid debts.
Smith was indicted last year on three counts of defrauding banks and home buyers while developing part of the 2,500-acre Fredonia Mountain residential complex originally developed by bothers James and Barry Wagner in Sequatchie County. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped all but one of the charges.
In a sentencing hearing today in federal court, Smith said he was sorry for his mistakes.
"In no way did I intentionally try to hurt anybody, but it turned out that I did," he told the court. "I apologize to my friends, my family and my church. I am responsible for may own actions and I am sorry."
His attorney appealed to the court to allow Smith to keep working and not go to jail to help repay his debts. But Judge Mattice said white-collar criminals should be treated similarly with others who steal money.