Ex-Appalachian Community Bank exec gets three and a half years of prison time

Former Appalachian Community Bank Vice President William R. Beamon Jr. was sentenced Monday to three years and six months in federal prison for the Ellijay, Ga., bank. “Bank fraud is a critical problem that has hit Georgia especially hard,” said Acting United States Attorney John A. Horn. “Georgia leads the nation in bank failures since 2008, with 88 banks failing—including Appalachian Community Bank, the bank this defendant defrauded. These failures significantly affect the economy, making…