Berryman sentenced to 4 months

By Staff
Jason Houston FCT Managing Editor
Local businessman Elbert Berryman was sentenced Monday to serve four months in federal prison in connection with bank fraud charges.
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said in a press release that Berryman was sentenced on one charge of making false statements to a federally insured institution.
In addition to the jail time, the 74-year-old Berryman, of 9430 Franklin 75 in Russellville, was also sentenced to four months of home detention and two years of supervised release.
According to the press release, Berryman pleaded guilty to the charge on March 1, 2004. He was sentenced by Judge U.W. Clemon.
Martin said Berryman was indicted by a federal grand jury on Dec. 30, 2003. The sentencing had been successfully delayed several times by Berryman's attorney, Don Holt of Florence, who cited Berryman's health problems as reasons to delay the sentencing.
This case was investigated by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela R. Debro.
Berryman is currently serving jail time on a 12-month sentence handed down in Franklin County circuit court in January. Berryman was convicted in a one-day trial last October of theft of property and later sentenced to six-years, split to serve one year.
After unsuccessful appeals to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals and the Alabama Supreme Court, he turned himself in to local authorities on Dec. 3 and was transferred to Kilby Correctional Facility to begin his 12-month sentence, sheriff's department officials said.
Evidence in Berryman's trial indicated he sold a parcel of land that he did not own. The theft charge was a Class B felony that carried a potential sentence of 20 years in prison.
Berryman has another, similar theft case still pending. Holt said Tuesday that the case was likely to be dismissed.
District Attorney Lee Osborn said Tuesday it was his understanding that the victims in the second case were satisified and did not with to proceed to trial, making a dismissal of the case likely at some point in the near future.