Altered letter backfires, gets SC man more time behind bars

COLUMBIA, SC (AP) - An altered letter meant to delay a prison sentence didn't work out the way James Harold Simmons Junior planned.

Prosecutors say Simmons altered a letter from his doctor so it said he was too sick to go behind bars to serve a 27-month prison sentence for transporting and receiving stolen goods.

Instead, US Attorney Reggie Lloyd says it got the 43-year-old Walterboro man another 15 months.

Probation officials were suspicious of the letter and called the doctor, who prosecutors say confirmed it had been changed.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press.

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