Former Craighead County clerk sentenced to prison
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KAIT) – Former Craighead County clerk Kade Holliday was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison on Wednesday for taking more than $1.5 million in county money for his personal use.
On Sept. 21, United States District Court Judge James Moody, Jr. also imposed three years of supervised release after Holliday completes his prison term, according to a news release.
Holliday admitted to taking the money to fund his businesses, Holliday Development and Management, LLC, and Total Healthcare, LLC, both of which operated restaurants and coffee shops in Jonesboro.
“Holliday told investigators he planned to pay the money back, but once the COVID-19 pandemic caused most of his businesses to close, he could not replace the money,” the release stated.
A grand jury indicted Holliday on 11 counts of wire fraud in Dec. 2020. In February, he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for his first fraudulent transfer of $101,782.97 from Jan. 2020. In his plea agreement, Holliday agreed to pay $1,579,057.03 in restitution to Craighead County.
Holliday is currently serving a 10-year sentence in state prison for pleading guilty to theft of property last November. Judge Moody order his federal sentence will not begin until the state sentence is completed.
Several lawmakers reacted to the sentencing, including Craighead County Judge Marvin Day, who was present during the hearing. He said the following:
“We appreciate the hard work of the US Attorney’s office and are thankful for Judge Moody and his consideration of our victim impact statement. Any sentence is “never enough”, but we understand that justice has been served. The citizens of Craighead County are glad to have this matter behind us.”
Little Rock Attorney Patrick Benca, co-counsel for Kade Holliday, also issued a statement on the sentencing:
“Mr. Holliday is very sorry for all the harm caused by his actions. The bankruptcy and the state and federal criminal cases are all now concluded, and there will be no appeals.”
Region 8 News will continue to follow this story for more details.
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