Plea deal in $8.7M Ohio embezzlement case

CINCINNATI (AP) – A federal court filing shows that a plea deal has been reached in the case of an accountant arrested along the Appalachian Trail, six years after he was accused of embezzling $8.7 million from his Cincinnati-based employer.
Fifty-three-year-old James Hammes (HAM’-us) of Lexington, Kentucky, was scheduled for trial next week on 2009 wire fraud and money laundering charges. A notice of a plea agreement was filed Thursday in U.S. district court, and trial has been canceled. No details were available. His attorney didn’t immediately return calls.
The FBI says Hammes fled after being confronted about money missing from the Pepsi-Cola bottler he worked for.
Agents arrested him May 16 in Damascus, Virginia, during the annual Trail Days festival. People there say Hammes was an Appalachian Trail regular known as “Bismarck.”

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.