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Former Chattanoogan Woods to start prison term for Ponzi scheme

Staff file photo / John J. Woods is a former minority owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts.
Staff file photo / John J. Woods is a former minority owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts. Staff file photo / John J. Woods is a former minority owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts.

Former Chattanooga businessman John J. Woods, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, is to report May 2 to an Alabama prison to start serving his nearly eight-year sentence.

Also, a restitution hearing related to Woods’ case is set for April 15 in a federal court in Atlanta.

(READ MORE: Woods charged with felony in scheme)

Woods, 59, was directed by the U.S. Marshals Service to report to the minimum security federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, in early May to begin serving his seven-year, 11-month sentence.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons website puts at 638 the population at the Montgomery facility that’s on Maxwell Air Force Base and for male offenders only.