Judge on Al Parish

A federal judge says the former economist he sentenced to prison may have begun his business with good intentions, but knew his schemes would collapse while bilking millions of dollars from unsuspecting clients. U.S. District Judge David Norton said in court documents filed Wednesday that Al Parish used his status as a Charleston Southern University professor and businessman to gain the trust of potential investors. Last month, Norton sentenced the Parish to more than 24 years in prison and ordered him to repay $66 million to his investors. Parish claimed he was suffering from amnesia when authorities announced their investigation in April 2007. On Monday, the U.S. Marshals Service moved Parish from Charleston, where he had been for about 10 days, to a county jail in Ocilla, Georgia.

--Associated Press