Features
Elvis In The Big House
Myers, sporting Elvis Presley’s signature sideburns, was sentenced to five years in the state Department of Corrections Oct. 26 for organized fraud. Myers, described as a longtime local concert promoter, had been accused of stealing $35,000 from one man’s retirement account, $5,000 from ticket purchases and $9,742 from BB&T Bank, the merchant services provider, according to Ocala’s Star-Banner.
Myers sold “deposits” from his own telephone for people to get first dibs on tickets, getting people to shell out $150 between Oct. 2008 and Feb. 2009, according to prosecutors. Customers were told Kid Rock, with Montgomery Gentry supporting, would perform at Southeast Livestock Pavilion on Valentine’s Day 2009, according to the paper.
However, CAA said there were no plans for Kid to play Ocala, and a contract was never signed. Although some people have gotten their money back, at least 26 people were never refunded.
Myers pleaded no contest in two separate cases in August but his sentencing was delayed in the event he could produce some restitution. He hasn’t, and he gave Judge Edward Scott a lengthy explanation as to what went wrong.
“I think [Myers] likes to think he’s a lot more capable than he [is as a concert promoter],” Assistant State Attorney Phil Hanson told the Star-Banner.
Myers also spoke to the paper before he was taken into custody.
“I can’t stay in this community and not pay this back,” he said. “I have my own morals to worry about. This doesn’t go away. It doesn’t go away at all.”
Hanson told the judge he doesn’t trust Myers because “he says one thing, he does another thing.”
If Myers produces some restitution within 60 days of his sentencing, Scott has the authority to mitigate the sentence, the paper said.
Click here for the complete Star-Banner article.