Former Dothan tourism guru in prison

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - Aaron McCreight, praised for boosting Dothan tourism to unparalleled heights, reported to a federal prison on Tuesday to serve his 18-month bank fraud sentence.

The Bureau of Prisons website shows McCreight is in Montgomery at the Maxwell Air Force base minimum security facility.

While Visit Dothan chief executive officer and president, McCreight lured a record number of tourist but, despite that success, he could not shake his troubled past.

He pleaded guilty on February 16 to falsifying revenue projections to obtain a loan that financed a 2018 Iowa music festival that flopped when he headed Go Cedar Rapids, a tax-funded group like Visit Dothan.

NewBo Evolve lost millions, leaving vendors and Bankers Trust holding the bag.

That bank’s president lost his job and a federal grand jury indicted McCreight and a coworker who also pleaded guilty.

McCreight and Doug Hargrave must pay $1.4 million in restitution, though they did not use the bank loan for personal gain.

McCreight resigned from Visit Dothan on the day a judge sentenced him.

The board of directors has yet to name his replacement.

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