By Associated Press - Tuesday, October 18, 2016

CLEVELAND, Miss. (AP) - A Bay St. Louis attorney has been sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling more than $370,000 from a bingo charity in the Cleveland.

Assistant District Attorney Leslie Flint tells The Sun Herald (https://bit.ly/2eesCEP) Morgan Shands was sentenced Monday in Bolivar County Circuit Court on a guilty plea to conspiracy and embezzlement

Shands is a former executive director of the state Democratic Party, has been a staffer for elected officials at state and national levels and served as campaign manager for Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes’ unsuccessful bid in 2011 for lieutenant governor.



Circuit Judge Charles Webster sentenced Shands to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge and 10 years on the embezzlement charge. Webster ordered the prison terms to run concurrently and suspended five years, leaving five to serve.

___

Information from: The Sun Herald, https://www.sunherald.com

Copyright © 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.

Story Topics

Please read our comment policy before commenting.