Documents received from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in Macon show a man indicted for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft has entered a guilty plea to the charges.
The indictment against Ronnie Atkinson was unsealed and released April 30, and the date of the signed plea agreement is May 12. His sentencing is scheduled Aug. 6.
The maximum sentence for count one is 30 years imprisonment, a maximum fine of $1 million or both. The sentence also includes a term of supervised release for five years.
Count two has a mandatory sentence of two years in prison to run consecutively to count one, a maximum fine of $1 million or both and a term of supervised release of one year.
Atkinson lived in Jones County at the time of the alleged fraud that involved loans he received from Morris Bank in Gray. The indictment of his charges references loans that begin in 2018 and continued to 2022. Atkinson was charged with conspiring with a bank officer and others to defraud and obtain money under the control of Morris Bank. It was alleged that 57 loans were issued for Atkinson’s benefit, totaling over $3 million.
The document also detailed how he received the cash when the loan checks were cashed.
Atkinson is known to Jones County law enforcement. He was arrested in Jones County for a charge of theft by deception as the result of his attempt to defraud a local man. The incident report by Jones County Sheriff Office Capt. Kenny Allen is dated Aug. 16. 2022.
Atkinson gave the owner of a 2015 Mack tractor a check for $50,000 that bounced and then would not give back the truck. He was subsequently arrested and incarcerated in the Jones County jail.
Allen said, in the process of his investigation, he discovered the offender had warrants from five counties in Georgia. His investigation ended when he was notified by FBI agents that they were taking over.
In reference to the same case, a former market president of Morris Bank, Alan Childs, entered his guilty plea to the charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in federal court April 16 and was released on a $20,000 bond. Childs’ sentencing is also scheduled Aug. 6.
