At the conclusion of a long day in a federal courtroom, Alan Childs was sentenced to 12 months plus one day in prison, with restitution to be decided within 90 days.
U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell pronounced the sentence following eight hours listening to witness testimonies and arguments by U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Howard and William Thomas Jr., who represented Childs.
The case was heard Sept. 15 in the US District Court for the Middle District of Georgia in Macon. The sentencing hearing started at 2 p.m. with a courtroom filled with supporters, which did not go unnoticed by the court.
Treadwell also stated as the court began that he received 200-character letters submitted in Childs’ behalf. The judge called it unprecedented but an inexplicable flood of support.
At the conclusion of the evidence presented by the government and the defense, the court determined Childs was accountable for a loss to Morris Bank that exceeded $1.5 million. That put the sentencing guideline range 41 to 51 months. Due to a motion by the government that considered Childs’ character and assistance to the government’s case, the court departed from the guidelines.
His 12-month and one day sentence is followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and Childs was allowed to voluntarily surrender to prison.
The defendant entered his guilty plea to the charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud April 16 and was released on a $20,000 bond until the sentencing hearing. In that plea agreement, Childs admitted he conspired with Ronnie Atkinson from March of 2018 to August of 2022.
Atkinson’s sentencing hearing is scheduled later this week.
The testimony of the government’s witnesses presented the amount of loss to the bank attributed to Childs’ actions. The defense’s case focused on the bank being aware the Childs had gone over his $500,000 lending authority in December of 2021 for Atkinson and related parties.
The contention was the banker should only be accountable for loans made after that date, but the court disagreed.
FBI investigator James Langdon was the government’s first witness, and Atkinson was second. Those government witnesses were followed by bank personnel.
Atkinson admitted to being guilty of bank fraud in the amount of $3.3 million. He said he made the loans for his logging company and met Childs through the seller of the equipment.
The witness said, after he reached Childs’ $500,000 lending limit, it was the banker who suggested, “straw borrowers,” getting others to borrow money for him.
In Thomas’s cross examination of Atkinson, he asked what he did with the money. The witness said he used some to buy more logging equipment and some to pay on the bank loans. The witness admitted to using fraudulent documents to obtain the loans.
The defense attorney asked Atkinson if Childs got any of that money.
“I didn’t give him any,” was his response.
The CEO of the bank, Spence Mullis, read an impact statement to the court about the effect the fraud and resulting legal fees had on the bank. He said charging off more than $3.3 million in uncollectable loans negatively affected bank employees, who are the bank’s largest shareholder group.
At the end of the day, Treadwell stated Childs committed a serious crime. He determined it was not a lapse in judgement but a long-term calculated scheme to defraud the bank.
The court added it was “inexplicable” why the defendant would jeopardize his family and freedom for Atkinson.
