SC parole board hearing on ex-HomeGold executive

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina’s parole board is holding a second hearing for former HomeGold executive Ronnie Sheppard, whose parole was revoked after the attorney general’s office complained that it wasn’t notified.

Sheppard has served four years of a 20-year sentence for securities fraud, conspiracy and obtaining property under false pretenses for his role in the 2003 collapse of HomeGold and its subsidiary Carolina Investors. More than 8,000 investors lost $275 million in one of the biggest bankruptcies in state history.

Sheppard was granted parole at a Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services hearing in December, but it was revoked a day later when the attorney general’s office complained it wasn’t notified.

Parole officials said the agency made a mistake by not informing Attorney General Alan Wilson’s office, which handled Sheppard’s prosecution.