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It's been almost a year since a federal jury deadlocked on whether to convict former National D-Day Memorial Foundation president Richard Burrow on fraud charges. And it's been eight months since U.S. Attorney John Brownlee announced that his office planned to ask a grand jury to reindict Burrow within 90 days. Since then, a new federal prosecutor, Tom Bondurant, has been assigned to the case. Brownlee referred questions about the case to Bondurant. "I'm taking a look at it," Bondurant said last week. He would not say whether federal prosecutors planned to seek new charges against Burrow, nor would Brownlee when questioned again about his previous statements. Bondurant has replaced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Scott on the case and joins Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Hogeboom. Bondurant's conservative statement contrasted with Brownlee's assertion in March that federal prosecutors planned to ask a grand jury to indict Burrow again on fraud charges. Brownlee said at the time that the decision to charge Burrow again was based partly on new evidence from the former attorney for the foundation, Robert L. Harrison Jr. Harrison, whose agreement to testify against Burrow saved him from facing a felony wire fraud charge himself, said in a statement released in March that Burrow falsified documents on purpose to get $3.5 million in matching funds from the state. Harrison made an agreement with federal prosecutors to cooperate and then serve a year of probation, pay a $12,500 fine and tell the Virginia State Bar about his actions. Roanoke attorney John Lichtenstein, who is representing Burrow in the case, declined to comment on the case. Burrow was charged with mail, wire, bank and loan application fraud. Senior U.S. District Judge James Turk declared a mistrial in the case in December after a jury in Lynchburg deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of acquitting Burrow.
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