Insurance magnate out of prison after convictions overturned

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina-based insurance magnate whose convictions on corruption-related counts were overturned by a federal appeals court has been released from prison.

Greg E. Lindberg was let out of a minimum-security prison in Montgomery, Alabama, on Friday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons website. That was the day after U.S. District Judge Max Cogburn agreed to Lindberg’s release in light of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacating his convictions last month and ordering a new trial.

Lindberg, who entered prison in October 2020, was sentenced to more than seven years after being convicted of attempting to bribe North Carolina’s insurance commissioner to secure preferential regulatory treatment for his insurance business. Lindberg had become a large political donor in North Carolina politics.

A 4th Circuit panel declared June 29 that Cogburn had erred by giving jurors in Lindberg’s trial misleading instructions before they began deliberations. John D. Gray, a Lindberg consultant convicted at the trial of the same two counts as Lindberg, also had his convictions vacated for the same reasons.

Cogburn’s order last week retained the conditions from Lindberg’s pretrial release, which included an unsecured bond and electronic monitoring.

A July 11 filing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for western North Carolina lodged no objections to Lindberg’s release based on the pretrial conditions. There’s nothing to indicate yet whether prosecutors will attempt to retry Lindberg and Gray or end their efforts.

Gray received a 2 1/2-year sentence but has been serving his time from home since December, according to a July 8 motion from Gray’s attorney. The attorney is also seeking his client’s release based on pretrial conditions.

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