Kennard sentenced to more than 17 years

Rome News-Tribune/May 5, 2005

Abraham Kennard, convicted in February of bilking $9 million from 1,600 churches and nonprofit organizations nationwide, was sentenced to 17.5 years in prison today in U.S. District Court in Rome.

Kennard was also ordered to pay $7.9 million in restitution to victims and $598,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.

Kennard was convicted on charges of mail fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering and income tax evasion.

Those charges stem from allegations that Kennard used his company, Network International Investment Corporation, as a vehicle to scam money from churches in 41 states between May 2001 and October 2002.