By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Judge approves deal for Webb
webb

 

The former deputy director of the Upper Cumberland Development District and former county executive of DeKalb County has been granted a supplemental plea deal.

 

U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. accepted a supplemental plea agreement on Jan. 9 in the final act of the “Living the Dream” scandal, which began in 2015 with the indictment of Webb and his boss at the Upper Cumberland Utility District (UCDD). The two were indicted on charges including conspiracy, theft of government money, bank fraud, money laundering, and making a false statement in 2013.

 

Webb will be on supervised release for three years and pay a $2,000 fine for bank fraud. He was sentenced to time served, which was one day, along with the three years supervised release. As well as the $2,000 fine, he is ordered to pay a criminal monetary penalty of $100. He is prohibited from owning, carrying or possessing firearms and will be permitted to travel between the Eastern District of Tennessee and the Middle District of Tennessee for business purposes during his supervised release,.

 

Webb pled guilty to one count of bank fraud on August 17, 2015, and was set to be sentenced in December, but sentencing was postponed until Jan. 9 when Crenshaw did not approve of the original plea agreement, in which Webb was to have been assessed no fines. A court order signed by Judge Crenshaw on Dec. 9 read: “the court believes a fine in the $6,000 range may be appropriate, considering Defendant’s cooperation with the Government, his offense conduct, and ability to pay.”

 

Askins reported to Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia on Jan. 9, the same facility Martha Stewart was housed after her 2004 conviction for insider trading. She was convicted of funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in UCDD funds into a luxury home in rural Putnam County intended to become a home for seniors. The home became Askins' residence.

 

Askins pled guilty to two counts of theft from a federally-funded entity on Aug. 31 and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in October. The sentence will run concurrently with a state sentence for forgery over $60,000. She will be on supervised probation for two years after her release, and must pay $233,000 restitution to the UCDD.

 

While Webb's attorney argued that he made no profit from the affair, Webb admitted guilt to count eight of the federal indictment, admitting that he and Askins secured a $250,000 loan from the Bank of Putnam County "for their own use and benefit," falsely representing that it was for a project approved by the UCDD board of directors.