News

Vinson goes to prison

By Bill Moss, Published: August 11, 2015

Keith Vinson, convicted as the ringleader of the Seven Falls bank fraud that cost investors and banks $23 million, has been sent to federal prison in Atlanta for prrocessing.

U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger on June 25 sentenced Vinson to 18 years in prison for his role in the development and financing of the failed Seven Falls Gold and River Club on the French Broad River in Etowah. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution totaling $18.4 million. Vinson, 56, had been jailed in the Buncombe County Detention Center since a federal jury convicted him in October 2013 on charges of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
The U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta is a medium security prison that houses 2,487 inmates. Vinson will undergo medical and psychological evaluations before being assigned to another prison, the U.S. marshal’s office in Charlotte said.
Vinson’s release date is June 21, 2029, when he would be 70.