ALCORN COUNTY, Miss. — A member of the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors, the county purchase clerk and three vendors who worked with the county have been indicted for misuse of funds.
They are all accused of taking part in ‘conspiracies designed to, and resulting in, the embezzlement of public funds.
In one case, investigators found a bulldozer the county had rented for a year never had an engine inside it.
A total of 259 criminal charges have been filed by Mississippi State Auditor Stacey Pickering.
“This is one of the more elaborate schemes that I have seen since being elected State Auditor for almost two full terms now,” Pickering said.
“Everything from forgery to embezzlement to falsifying documents,” he added.
The level of involvement stretched from Supervisor Jimmy ‘Dal’ Nelms, to Paul Rhodes, to three vendors who did business with Alcorn County.
Nelms, the Alcorn County District 2 Supervisor, is the main focus of the investigation and resulting charges. If found guilty, there is a civil demand for Nelms to pay back $308,244.71
Nelms is accused of getting kickbacks for buying equipment from a certain vendor.
He is also accused of taking money from vendors and using public money to pay for work that was never completed and for equipment that was never rented.
An additional charge claims Nelms intercepted ‘checks intended for alleged participating vendors, forging their signatures and cashing the checks and paid for his wife’s cell phone with county funds.
Nelms is charged with embezzlement by a public official, forgery, conspiracy, defrauding the government and fraudulently obtaining public funds.
“Whether it was false invoicing or purchasing equipment with Supervisor Nelms and then selling that equipment or renting it to Alcorn County for a premium profit,” Pickering said.
William Paul Rhodes, the Alcorn County Purchase Clerk, is accused of using his job to get around the bidding process and generally helping Nelms and others defraud the county. He is also accused of hindering the investigation by taking pictures of investigator notes and sending them to Nelms.
Rhodes is charged with conspiracy, accessory, fraud and hindering prosecution. If found guilty, the state is seeking repayment of $77,509.94.
Jimmy Ray Mitchell, the owner of North Mississippi Pipe Solutions faces 32 counts for allegedly helping Nelms via fraudulent equipment sales and trying to hide crimes he allegedly committed. If found guilty, the state is seeking repayment of $95,382.35
Mitchell is charged with conspiracy, accessory and fraud.
Joseph Lin McNair, Jr., and Danny Roy Peters are also charged with fraud for allegedly allowing Nelms to use their names on invoices then give them a cut of the money.
Alcorn County resident Mark Crum is mad, especially when he sees the bulldozer that was rented to the county…it has no engine!
“That’s what we rented. That’s what the tax payers was paying for. And I live in that District. And what about that is right, what about that is right? ” he said.
District 3 Supervisor Tim Mitchell doesn’t blame taxpayers for being upset.
“I’m sure they will be outraged, I would be. Tax dollars being misused like that, I’d be outraged,” he said.
Pickering said Wednesday the investigation was far from over and will be expanded to include the Alcorn County Sheriff’s Department and the Alcorn County Jail. But he would not elaborate, saying he didn’t want to release any details of the state’s ongoing investigation into wrongdoing in Alcorn County.
