Man sentenced to life after robbery, kidnapping

A Greenville man was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty of robbery and a kidnapping last year.

50-year-old James Bailey was sentenced Friday to life in Greenville County because of that connection to the crime in April 2013.

Deputies said that Bailey entered a Dollar General and held the worker at knife point, cutting her on the throat and torso while threatening to kill her.

He held the manager of the store hostage during the robbery. While he was doing that, another employee was able to call 911.

Once police arrived on the scene, Bailey fled the store and was involved in a struggle with the police before being arrested.

Bailey was only able to steal $22 in the robbery.

He already had 11 prior convictions before the incident, which qualified him for South Carolina’s “two-strikes” law. He was sentenced on the charges of armed robbery, kidnapping, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and resisting arrest. He will not be eligible for parole.

SC State asks for loan on unpaid bills

The president of South Carolina State University said that the university needs help from the state to help pay back $6.5 million in unpaid bills.

President Thomas Elzey said that the university will be asking South Carolina’s financial board for a loan of $12 million to be given out over the course of three years.

The university also received a loan for $6 million last spring. That loan is due to be paid back in the spring, however Elzey is seeking an extension.

Elzey said that he has cut the university’s budget by laying off more than 100 employees and he plans for the other staff members to take seven-day furloughs.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that she cannot approve the loan for the school until a review of the university’s finances is completed by an outside accounting firm.

Charlotte mayor sentenced to 4 years in prison

The former mayor of Charlotte has been sentenced to four years in a federal prison Tuesday after being found guilty for accepting bribes, The Associated Press reported.

The former mayor, Patrick Cannon, resigned in March, the same day that he was arrested for bribery.

He was sentenced to 44 months total in federal prison and was fined $10,000.

The sentencing judge said that Cannon had “tarnished the city’s image” and that the court had to “send a message” about public corruption.

Cannon pleaded guilty to one charge of honest services wire fraud. Prosecutors said that the former mayor accepted $50,000 in bribes while he was a city councilman and while he was mayor.

He was accepting those bribes from undercover federal agents during the period from January 2013 to February 2014.