North Carolina Lottery: Former N.C. Lottery commissioner sentenced to 4 years in prison
Former lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings was sentenced to four years in prison today on charges that he hid his financial ties to a company expected to bid for the state's lottery business.
US District Court Judge James Dever the Third imposed a prison term seven months longer than the maximum sentence recommended by court officials. They suggested that Geddings receive up to almost three and a half years in prison.
Dever also fined Geddings $25,000 but says he doesn't have to report to prison immediately.
Geddings' lawyers said he deserved much less prison time so he could care for his family.
Geddings was convicted in October on five counts of mail fraud. Prosecutors said he failed to disclose to a state ethics panel that his public relations firm received more than $250,000 in payments between 2000 and 2005 from Scientific Games, a New York-based provider of instant-win tickets and lottery software.