Ex-HomeGold CEO Ronnie Sheppard (right) leaves an Upstate courthouse with an unknown man (left). (File/FOX Carolina)
COLUMBIA, SC (AP) -
Former HomeGold executive Ronnie Sheppard will not be released from prison early.
Parole board spokesman Pete O'Boyle says the panel turned down the request Wednesday.
It was the second time Sheppard had sought permission to leave prison early. He is serving a 20-year sentence for securities fraud, conspiracy and obtaining property under false pretenses for his role in the 2003 collapse of HomeGold and its subsidiary Carolina Investors.
More than 8,000 investors lost $275 million in one of the biggest bankruptcies in state history.
Attorney General Alan Wilson and several HomeGold investors urged the panel to deny Sheppard's request.
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