Legal Troubles
Phillips did not again seek public office but remained a long-term financial backer of the Mississippi GOP. He subsequently became an officer of the Stirling Homex Corporation, which manufactured housing modules and sought to locate a plant in Harrison County. The New York-based firm went bankrupt in 1972. Phillips and four other company officers were indicted and tried on charges of conspiracy and fraud in the sale of $40 million worth of stock. Four of the officers, including Phillips, were found guilty of falsely inflating earnings reports and deceiving investors, auditors, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Phillips was fined $5,000 and received a ten-month sentence imposed by Judge Marvin E. Frankel. In 1978, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear appeals by the defendants and left intact their fines and sentences. In 1980, Phillips was disbarred by the Mississippi Supreme Court, which rejected a suspension as proposed in 1979 by a special state bar tribunal. Phillips was permitted to seek reinstatement to the bar in September 1982 and thereafter resumed the practice of corporate law in Jackson.
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