Imprisoned Beazer Homes executive wants his conviction thrown out – again

In the latest twist in a long-running case, a former Beazer Homes USA executive sentenced to 10 years in prison for an accounting scheme is trying to have his conviction and sentence set aside, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

Michael Rand was sentenced in federal court in Charlotte in 2015 following a legal drama that began with his indictment in 2007 and included two jury trials. The federal investigation into the company followed a series of Observer stories focusing on Beazer practices that broke federal lending laws and put hundreds of Charlotte-area residents into homes they couldn’t afford.

A federal jury in 2014 convicted Rand of securities fraud and other charges stemming from what prosecutors describe as a seven-year conspiracy. The government charged him with manipulating earnings reports to mislead investors and regulators, then lying about it to federal investigators and company auditors.

Rand appealed several aspects of his conviction and sentence to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, but the court affirmed the lower court’s decision in August 2016. In November 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case.

In his latest action, Rand is representing himself but in court documents says he has identified an attorney to take on the case. According to the documents, Rand contends grounds for having his conviction and sentence overturned include ineffective counsel, violations of due process and his lawyers’ insistence that he not testify on his own behalf.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte declined to comment.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons web site, Rand, 55, is an inmate at the Montgomery Federal Prison Camp, a minimum security facility in Alabama. His release date is March 26, 2024.

This story was originally published November 28, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Imprisoned Beazer Homes executive wants his conviction thrown out – again."