By Billy Davis

The attorney representing David Chandler, the former county administrator, said this week a sentencing date has not been set for his client.

Greenwood attorney Hiram Eastland III was responding to a report from State Auditor Stacey Pickering that Chandler was due for sentencing next month.

Pickering was in Batesville last week to announce his state office was returning $85,867 to Panola County that had been collected from Chandler, the wrap-up of a state investigation.

In a separate federal case, Chandler is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to embezzlement and mail fraud as part of a plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Pickering mentioned Chandler’s sentencing mostly in passing — he talked mostly about the state investigation of Chandler — but The Panolian and other media outlets picked up the comment.

The Panolian had also been told by a second source that Chandler was due to be sentenced in May, though Pickering’s comment was the first mention of it publicly.

Eastland told The Panolian he was surprised at Pickering’s comment and afterward checked with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Oxford and U.S. Probation Services.

In an e-mail, Eastland explained that the Probation office has yet to send Eastland a pre-sentence report, which must be responded to by the attorney before the federal office amends it and sends it to the judge.
That process has not started which means it’s unlikely the sentencing will occur in May according to Eastland.

A spokesman for the U.S Attorney’s Office in Oxford also said there is no court documentation showing a sentencing date for Chandler.