The Carolina Public Press reported today on a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice:
ASHEVILLE – Five of the 11 defendants charged in connection to a scheme involving the development of Seven Falls, a golf course and luxury residential community in Henderson County, were sentenced Tuesday, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Rose was joined in making Tuesday’s announcement by John A. Strong, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte Division; Thomas J. Holloman III, special agent in charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; Jason Moran, special agent in charge of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Inspector General’s Office of Investigation, Atlanta office.
U.S. District Judge Martin Reidinger sentenced Avery Ted “Buck” Cashion, III, 61, of Lake Luke, to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release; Raymond M. “Ray” Chapman, 68, of Brevard, to 36 months in prison, and three years of supervised release; Thomas E. “Ted” Durham, Jr., former president of the failed Pisgah Community Bank, 60, of Fletcher, to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release; and Aaron Ollis, 68, a former licensed real estate appraiser, of Arden, to two years of probation, including 12 months and 1 day home detention. Cashion, Chapman, Durham and Ollis each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. The defendants were also ordered to pay restitution as follows:
Avery Ted “Buck” Cashion, III: $14,266,256.47
Raymond M. “Ray” Chapman: $14,266,256.47
Thomas E. “Ted” Durham: $ 6,237,453.37
Aaron Ollis: $10,199,106.87
George M. Gabler, 60, of Fletcher, was convicted of one count of willfully failing to report misconduct associated with two Seven Falls lot loans in March 2010. In court documents, Gabler admitted that he withheld documents from a federal grand jury knowing that they were related to fraudulent loans taken out on behalf of conspirator Keith Vinson. For this offense, Gabler, a former certified public accountant, was sentenced to two years of probation, including
500 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine.
Continue reading the rest of the story through Carolina Public Press…
This man did me wrong years ago so I have no problem sharing this story. Avery Ted “Buck” Cashion is a retired US Army finance officer. I got to know him from the 1980’s while in the US Army and having to serve under him as my unit commander. He should have been sent to the Fort Leavenworth military prison already back then. While running a US Army finance office in Wiesbaden, Germany during the late 1980’s, Cashion had this money-making scheme which he executed flawlessly. He used US Army vehicles and military-provided fuel, mess hall equipment, and a few select military soldiers as his labor – coupled with food bought tax-free and at discounted prices from the US Army commissary – to run his “business” as a food vendor at Frankfurt (Germany) Galaxy American football games. He paid no taxes to the German or American governments on any of the profits. He and the few military soldiers which he used, then personally pocketed all of the money (over $300,000 and of course no doubt, never paid any personal federal income taxes on this money either as this was an all-cash business).
Buck is married to Joan (Lusk) Cashion, the daughter of a Navy Admiral, who was also initially charged but now somehow walked away from everything. Lucky you, Joan.
Let me tell you something, Buck: You are lucky that you only went to prison for the first time at age 62 and then only got three years – because you should have gone to prison back when you were 35 and rotted away in Leavenworth for a long time. In fact, you should not even have any kind of military pension after what you did. What “goes around then comes around” as they say, so have a nice life as any of us soldiers who served under you at the 117th FSU are not remotely surprised at any of this!