Sentencing postponed for trail-hiking embezzlement suspect

CINCINNATI (AP) – A federal judge in Ohio has rescheduled the sentencing of a Kentucky accountant who spent much of six years as a fugitive hiking the Appalachian Trail.

The judge has postponed a March 30 sentencing date until June 1 to give the attorney for James Hammes more time because of his trial schedule.

Hammes pleaded guilty in October to a wire fraud count and agreed to pay back money embezzled in the $8.7 million case. Federal authorities agreed to drop 74 other charges against Hammes, a former Lexington employee of a Cincinnati-based Pepsi-Cola bottler.

The wire fraud count carries a maximum of 20 years behind bars.

FBI agents arrested Hammes in May 2015 in Damascus, Virginia.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press