Thompson sentencing pushed to November

Guy Thompson will wait for sentencing until November 13 as his sentencing date has been pushed back for the second time from its original date of July 29. [FILE PHOTO]

MILTON — Fate of the former Milton Mayor and United Way Director Guy Thompson will remain a mystery a little bit longer than expected as his sentencing date continues to be pushed back by his defense team.

Originally planned to be sentenced on July 29 at the Arnow Federal Building, 100 North Palafox Street in Pensacola, Thompson's defense team requested to have his date moved to Aug. 30 to allow time to provide the courts additional information into Thompson’s “physical and mental health.” Now it has been announced that the sentencing will be pushed to 9 a.m. Nov. 13. 

According to the United States Attorney's Office, the motion and order continuing the sentencing were sealed and no further details as to why the request to move the date were available at this time.

 Thompson plead guilty to 20 counts of wire fraud and three counts of tax evasion stemming from his time as executive director of the former United Way of Santa Rosa in May. Between at least 2011 and 2018, Thompson embezzled money belonging to the branch while he served as director, according to information from Lawrence Keefe, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Officials said Thompson maintained his scheme by making fraudulent misrepresentations to United Way of Santa Rosa County’s board members and employees, its parent nonprofit United Way Worldwide, and bank personnel. He also took steps to prevent internal or external audits of the local branch from occurring that would have uncovered his fraud, officials said.

Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Thompson will also be ordered to make restitution and the government intends to forfeit all proceeds of Thompson’s fraud.

This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Thompson sentencing pushed to November