Former Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Judy Morehead was sentenced to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty to a securities fraud charge in Alabama. Morehead was admitted June 7 to Houston Community Corrections facility in Dothan, Alabama.
According to the Alabama Department of Corrections, her minimum release date is March 17, 2021.
Morehead’s plea was a result of indictments returned by the March 2017 Henry County Grand Jury against Judy Morehead, Stanley Morehead, and Benjamin Morehead for accepting approximately $300,000 dollars of investors’ funds and then knowingly using the funds to pay personal debts, personal loans, and expenses unrelated to investments.
Morehead was named CEO of the Navarre Beach Area Chamber in October 2015 and resigned in June 2017, following her arrest.
Following the departure Tamara Fountain, who served as CEO from August 2017 through March 2019, the organization on July 31 relocated from Fountain Professional Centre to Prado Street in Navarre.
Currently the chamber, under CEO Chanda Ryan, is trying to raise $550,000 in a capital campaign for the office on Prado Street. According to its website so far $66,900 has been raised.
The Navarre Beach Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 tax returns shows the organization since at least 2015 has operated at a loss. IRS documents reveal the chamber’s annual losses were -$15,013 in 2017 and -$11,225 in 2018.
