The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

June 25, 2008

Sentencing delayed in cattle scam

Christian Giggenbach

Federal sentencing hearings for three defendants who pleaded guilty in a multimillion-dollar Greenbrier County banking and cattle scandal have been continued until this fall.

Kevin Scott O’Brien of Ronceverte, Charles A. Henthorn of Lewisburg, and G. Thomas Garten of Covington, Va., were scheduled to be sentenced individually June 30. However, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston recently entered an order in the case which continued all three sentencings until Sept. 8.

Although Johnston’s June 17 order did not specifically say why the continuance was granted, the deadline dates for presentencing reports and other documents have also been changed, allowing more preparation time for probation officers and lawyers involved in the case.

A final presentencing report by probation officers is now due by Aug. 11 and lawyers have until Aug. 25 to file sentencing memorandums.

“It’s not uncommon to have continuances in sentencings, especially when a case is as complex as this one,” assistant U.S. attorney L. Anna Forbes, lead prosecutor in the case, said by phone Wednesday.

Prosecutors say O’Brien, 28, used sophisticated schemes when defrauding investors and businesses out of $4.2 million beginning in early 2005 while brokering cattle deals in West Virginia, Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Nebraska.

Henthorn, a former First National Bank of Ronceverte president and CEO, pleaded guilty to accepting four bribes from O’Brien totaling nearly $10,000, and Garten, a former FNB board director, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting those bribes.

Each defendant faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 30 years and heavy fines, but lighter sentences may possibly be given because all three defendants cooperated with authorities.

Federal sentencing guidelines do not allow probation as an option in these cases.

O’Brien’s legal problems also extend to his multi-million bankruptcy case where one court official previously said O’Brien’s liabilities total almost $8 million.

— E-mail:

cgiggenbach@register-herald.com

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