Former Mayor Sentenced On 12 Counts Of Insurance Fraud

Sept. 18--Former Milledgeville Mayor Richard Bentley was sentenced today at the Baldwin County Courthouse on 12 counts of insurance fraud.

Bentley was sentenced under the First Offender Act.

Bentley, who resigned as mayor earlier this year, was arrested on the charges after his resignation from public office and the charges are not related to the mayor's office or city government.

The crimes occurred during the time that Bentley owned and operated Wilkinson Insurance Agency in Milledgeville. The business is no longer in existence.

One of the 12 charges against Bentley involves a Gordon businessman, who said he paid Bentley for insurance on a fleet of trucks that he owns. The victim later discovered that his trucks were not insured and that he had paid for insurance coverage that he really didn't have.

The other victims were handled in a similar way, according to authorities.

Bentley has remained free on $50,000 bond since he turned himself in to a deputy sheriff at his lawyer's office in April.

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