Video: State Auditor’s Probe Results in Indictments Against Alcorn County Officials and Others

[syndicaster id=’5483767′]

CORINTH, Miss. (WCBI)  — A year long investigation leads to the arrests of an Alcorn County Supervisor, the purchasing clerk and three vendors. The five face 259 felony charges for their alleged roles in an elaborate scheme to embezzle public funds.

Flanked by investigators, Mississippi State Auditor Stacey Pickering announced the results of an extensive investigation into corruption in Alcorn County.

“The taxpayers and citizens of Alcorn County should be and I am confident are incensed that a public official would betray their trust in this manner,” said Pickering.

The main focus of the investigation is District Two Supervisor Jimmy Dal Nelms. He is charged with 156 felony counts, including embezzlement and fraudulently obtaining public funds. Nelms is being asked in a civil suit to pay back $308,000.00.

Pickering says Nelms was aided in his scheme by Alcorn County Purchasing Clerk William Paul Rhodes, who is charged with accessory, conspiracy, fraud and hindering prosecution.

Jimmy Ray Mitchell is accused of helping Nelms by fraudulent equipment sales. Danny Roy Peters and Joseph Lin McNair Junior are charged with fraud for letting Nelms use their names on invoices in return for a portion of the money.

Pickering said, “There were multiple ways in which this scheme worked, some of it they actually went and purchased vehicles in Tennessee, brought it to Alcorn County, sold it or rented it to the county for a premium price and then they would split the profits. ”

In one case, auditors found this bulldozer the county had rented for a year never had an engine in it.In another instance, Nelms is accused of selling this used, air compressor to the county for $1,000.00. It sells brand new, for $299.00.

The state auditor says the scheme to embezzle and defraud taxpayers was deep and far reaching. He says he would have filed up to 600 charges against Nelms alone. Reaction from the public and a fellow supervisor was swift.

Q: Are you surprised about what happened here today?
A: I’m surprised it wasn’t a whole lot more.

Q: Why?
A: It’s sort of like peeling back an onion. They peel back one or two layers but they ain’t near got to the corruption in Alcorn County. We’re working with the state auditor’s department, hand in hand. We are embarrassed about this situation.

And it may not be over. The state auditor says the investigation is ongoing and will likely focus on the Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department and the county jail.

All five are set to be arraigned January 6th in Alcorn County.