A Hattiesburg pastor and a New Orleans businessman face an April 18 trial date on multiple counts that they defrauded the U.S. government through a local residential rehabilitation project.

The Rev. Kenneth Fairley, pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, and Artie Fletcher were arrested March 23 on a federal indictment. Each is free on $25,000 unsecured bond.

They are scheduled to go on trial before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett in Hattiesburg.

Fletcher is owner of Interurban Development, a for-profit company based in New Orleans, which was contracted by Fairley’s Pinebelt Community Services to rehabilitate various Hattiesburg properties.

The indictment accuses Fairley of six counts and Fletcher on three counts of involvement in a scheme to illegally launder money and defraud the government of thousands of dollars aimed at improving three residences.

The pair, who have not yet entered pleas to the charges, are accused of submitting invoices and receipts that inflated project costs.

If convicted, they each face from five to 20 years in prison and steep fines.

Fairley is represented by Sanford E. Knott; Fletcher by Jennifer Nicaud.

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a Creative Commons license. For digital publications:

• Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
• Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

For print publications:

• You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
• You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
• You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
• Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
• You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
• You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
• Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
• If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.

If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director Lauchlin Fields.

April trial date set for pair in Hattiesburg housing indictment

by Patsy R. Brumfield, Mississippi Today
March 29, 2016

<h1>April trial date set for pair in Hattiesburg housing indictment</h1> <p class="byline">by Patsy R. Brumfield, Mississippi Today <br />March 29, 2016</p> <p>A Hattiesburg pastor and a New Orleans businessman face an April 18 trial date on multiple counts that they defrauded the U.S. government through a local residential rehabilitation project.</p> <p>The Rev. Kenneth Fairley, pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, and Artie Fletcher were arrested March 23 on a federal indictment. Each is free on $25,000 unsecured bond.</p> <p>They are scheduled to go on trial before U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett in Hattiesburg.</p> <p>Fletcher is owner of Interurban Development, a for-profit company based in New Orleans, which was contracted by Fairley’s Pinebelt Community Services to rehabilitate various Hattiesburg properties.</p> <p>The indictment accuses Fairley of six counts and Fletcher on three counts of involvement in a scheme to illegally launder money and defraud the government of thousands of dollars aimed at improving three residences.</p> <p>The pair, who have not yet entered pleas to the charges, are accused of submitting invoices and receipts that inflated project costs.</p> <p>If convicted, they each face from five to 20 years in prison and steep fines.</p> <p>Fairley is represented by Sanford E. Knott; Fletcher by Jennifer Nicaud.</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org/2016/03/29/april-trial-date-set-for-pair-in-hattieburg-housing-indictment/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://mississippitoday.org">Mississippi Today</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/mississippitoday.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MT_square-thumb.jpg?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://mississippitoday.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=353&ga=UA-75003810-1" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

1