If only the feds had held off, he said, he could have made the whole plan work. It is unreasonable, to say the least, to ask federal officials to ignore embezzlement and money laundering just because if it all works out, everybody will be happy. Jim Lees, Morrison's attorney, said Morrison's eight-year sentence was too harsh because he was not motivated by personal greed. Even if we assume he did not mean to enrich himself from the mall scheme, Morrison used illegal means to enrich his employer. If the mall project had been worthy of support, he could have raised the money through local banks or investors.
Resources are slim in Southern West Virginia, but that's no excuse for breaking the law.
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