KENNER, La. (AP) - A Louisiana prosecutor says a former auction company owner from Mississippi has been ordered to pay $216,000 to the city of Kenner.
Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick’s office says the money is restitution for the theft of money raised when Kenner officials auctioned surplus city property in 2008.
Connick’s news release and court records say 44-year-old James Durham of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, pleaded guilty in 2014 and was placed on probation. A judge in the case had originally ordered $80,000 in restitution - well below the more than $511,000 stolen.
Connick’s office appealed the low amount. Appellate judges reversed the first restitution decision and a new district judge ordered the higher amount Wednesday.
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