Former Carolina Investors Chairman Granted Parole

Former Carolina Investors Chairman Jack Sterling was granted parole at a hearing Wednesday after spending less than a year in prison, according to reports. 

Sterling was convicted of securities fraud in 2009 for his role in the collapse of Carolina Investors, according to a report in The State. About 12,000 people lost $275 million after the company collapsed in 2003. Sterling was chairman of HomeGold, the parent company of Carolina Investors.

At a hearing before the  South Carolina Parole and Pardons Board Wednesday, Sterling was sentenced to six months of home detention and 200 hours of community service, according to The State. He will be released in about a week.

Sterling started serving his five-year sentence on April 9, 2012, according to a report from WSPA. He was out on bail for three years before that while he was appealing the sentence. 

Six other executives at the two companies, including Ronnie Sheppard, were convicted after the collapse.