James Hammes hid on Appalachian Trail after being accused $9m theft

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James Hammes was a white-collar crime suspect missing since 2009
Accused of embezzling $8.7million from G&J Pepsi-Cola bottlers in Ohio
Disappeared and left behind daughter and wife, who has now divorced him
He began hiking the Appalachian Trail, going by the name 'Bismarck'
He may have been staying in Maine and northern Indiana when not on hike
Was arrested at the Trail Days festival and is due to stand trial next month

By Kelly Mclaughlin For Dailymail.com and Dailymail.com Reporter and Associated Press

Published: 15:56 EST, 20 September 2015 | Updated: 07:06 EST, 21 September 2015

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A genial, thick-bearded hiker known as ‘Bismarck’ across the Appalachian Trail was arrested by the FBI after it was revealed that he was a suspected white-collar criminal who had been hiding out for six years.

James T Hammes is scheduled for trial next month in the US District Court in Cincinnati on charges that he embezzled nearly $9million from his Ohio-based employer, an indictment handed up after he had already disappeared in 2009.

Bismarck had apparently abandoned his wife and daughter and hid out on 2,200-mile trail stretching from Georgia to Maine, until a fellow hiker led to his eventual arrest after recognizing him from a rerun of the CNBC series American Greed.

Hammes, also known as Bismark, was a regular at Susie Montgomery's bed-and-breakfast in a small Virginia town until the May 16, when the FBI showed up.

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James 'Bismark' Hammes is accused of embezzling $8.7million from G&J Pepsi-Cola bottlers in Ohio in 2009

Bismark was arrested after hiding out at a hiker on the Appalachian Trail for six years. The white-collar crime suspect was finally found by the FBI

'I'd say he was one of my favorite guests,' said Montgomery, whose four-bedroom Montgomery Homestead Inn offers on its website a place to 'forget life's stresses' for a slower, simpler life.

'He was a smart man, interesting to talk to; a pleasant personality,' she added. 'All of the other people who stayed here liked him.'

Bismarck was in his room, she recalled, on May 16 during the annual Trail Days festival that brings thousands of people into tiny Damascus, Virginia, when she heard a knock on the door.

She answered the door to three agents - one holding up a picture of Bismarck. He told her they believed her guest was someone the FBI wanted.

Her husband spotted someone else guarding the back door. Soon Bismarck was being led away in handcuffs, and the FBI was announcing the arrest of Hammes.

'They allowed me to hug him,' said Montgomery. 'He whispered to me that he was sorry that this happened.'

The 53-year-old Lexington, Kentucky, accountant is now in a southwest Ohio county jail.

He is scheduled for trial next month and has pleaded not guilty.

However, court documents indicate there have been negotiations about a plea agreement to avoid trial. Hammes' attorney did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Hammes is scheduled for trial next month in the US District Court in Cincinnati on charges that he embezzled nearly $9million from his Ohio-based employer, an indictment handed up after he had already disappeared,

Authorities aren't saying much about what they believe happened to the money or Hammes' whereabouts the past six years. 'It's still an ongoing investigation,' FBI spokesman Todd Lindgren said.

But Hammes seems to have been hiding in plain sight much of the time since he bolted soon after being questioned about the missing millions.

'I think the most surprising thing about it to me is he had high visibility on the Appalachian Trail,' said David Miller of Titusville, Florida, who has written a guidebook called The A.T. Guide and has chronicled his own journey in the book AWOL on the Appalachian Trail.

'There are thousands of people on the Appalachian Trail every year. Even though I'm in touch with a lot of them, there are a lot of them I never hear about.'

But Miller knew about Bismarck, who showed up in photos in hikers' journals and sent Miller notes for his guidebook updates, such as whether a hotel was giving hikers special rates.

Hikers posted on social media selfies with Bismarck; one shows a laughing Bismarck in a water gun battle.

Hammes, pictured here with second wife Deanna Faye Darrell, grew his hair and beard out while hiding out on the trail

'He was a little more gregarious and social than the typical hiker,' said Miller, who said Bismarck stopped by his booth to chat at the annual Trail Days festival the day before Hammes' arrest.

Hikers often adopt 'trail names' to be known as during their Trail adventures.

The significance of the Bismarck name isn't clear; Hammes is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native who was living in Kentucky.

During hiker small talk, Bismarck is said to have sometimes told people he had a software company.

Hammes, also a licensed pilot, had credited successful investment in a software company for extra money that paid for scuba diving trips to the Caribbean in the years before his indictment, according to former in-laws who were interviewed for an episode of the CNBC series American Greed in 2012.

A fellow hiker has been credited with recognizing Bismarck from the show, leading to Hammes' eventual arrest.

The hiker traveled on the trail with Bismarck for seven months. When he returned home, he saw a rerun of the CNBC show three years after it aired, according to the State Register-Journal.

Hammes was Lexington-based controller for the southern division of G&J Pepsi-Cola bottlers.

Hammes, pictured here with his first wife, Joy, in an undated photograph, was found after he appeared in photos in hikers' journals and social media posts

Called by company officials to Cincinnati headquarters in February 2009, he was confronted about missing funds investigators say topped $8.7million.

Authorities say Hammes soon disappeared, leaving behind a wife who would later divorce him and his daughter.

FBI special agent Pamela Matson stated in an affidavit that G&J funds were deposited into an unauthorized account that played off the name of a vendor.

Investigators found that Hammes opened the account in 1998, she said.

He repeatedly wrote checks to the sham vendor account, then quickly moved the deposits into his own bank account, according to Matson.

Accounts have placed Hammes staying in Maine and northern Indiana when not on the Trail during his time on the lam, although the FBI wouldn't discuss its own findings.

Miller, who is Hammes' age, left his job as software engineer more than a decade ago to hike the Trail.

He suggested that while the popular Trail might seem an odd place for a fugitive to show up repeatedly, being Bismarck could have given Hammes a feeling of belonging to something during his life as a fugitive.

'You could speculate that in his situation, he was feeling isolated,' Miller said, 'and this let him establish some sense of community.'

Authorities aren't saying much about what they believe happened to the money or Hammes' (pictured on his wedding day to his frist wife, Joy) whereabouts the past six years because the investigation is ongoing