Tag Archives: sheriffs

Judge revokes bond, sends Rutherford sheriff to jail

A federal magistrate Wednesday revoked bond for Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold Wednesday and ordered him to jail because of new domestic assault charges brought while he is awaiting trial on corruption charges, reports the Daily News Journal.

“I find sufficient probable cause that Robert Arnold committed (domestic assault against his wife),” U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair Newbern ruled Wednesday morning.

She also ordered that Arnold be escorted out of her courtroom by a U.S. Marshall, who placed handcuffs on the sheriff’s wrists held behind his back.

Newbern revoked Arnold’s $250,000 bond in the JailCigs case and ruled probable cause exists that the Rutherford County sheriff was involved in a domestic assault against his wife as well as witness tampering.

However, she left opened the possibility of him being released if he resigns from office and agrees to stay away from his wife and Rutherford County deputies.

Second-in-command Chief Deputy Randy Garrett will take charge of the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office while Arnold is in jail, County Mayor Ernest Burgess said.

The sheriff will continue to receive his annual salary of $127,078 while behind bars, Burgess said.

“That’s the way I read the state statute,” the mayor said during a Wednesday morning phone interview before Arnold’s federal court hearing in Nashville. “He’s still the sheriff until he is convicted of a felony. When that occurs, he is removed as sheriff.”

State law does provide that an acting sheriff can be in charge whenever the sheriff is incapacitated, such as having to be detained while awaiting trial, the mayor said.

In Arnold’s case, he and his uncle John Vanderveer, and Joe Russell, the Sheriff’s Office accounting chief, face a 13-count federal indictment accusing them of illegally profiting from inmates through the sale of JailCigs, an electronic cigarettes business.

Rutherford sheriff, already facing corruption trial, accused of domestic assault

Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold, already facing trial on corruption charges, has now been accused of a domestic violence assaylt on his wife, reports the Daily News Journal.

“The defendant has been accused of domestic assault against his wife, Megan Arnold,” states a pretrial release petition from Kimberly J. Haney, a pre-trial services officer to U.S. Magistrate Judge Alistair E. Newbern.

Rutherford County’s District Attorney General Jennings Jones asked the TBI to investigate the alleged domestic assault after rumors surfaced that sheriff’s deputies had been called to the Arnolds’ Osborne Lane home but did not file a report.

Megan Arnold told the TBI that her husband became violent with her after the couple returned home from a Labor Day party at a friend’s house where he had been drinking, according to the court records. When the sheriff returned home, his wife told the TBI agent, he continued to drink and took an Ambien sleeping pill.

Later, when she opened the bedroom where the sheriff was, “the defendant pushed Mrs. Arnold to the floor and punched her in her right arm near her shoulder,” court records state.

“Mrs. Arnold kicked the defendant, and a struggle ensued,” the court filing continues. “During the struggle, the defendant grabbed a belt and wrapped it around Mrs. Arnold in an attempt to drag her out of the room without leaving marks on her body. Mrs. Arnold slipped out of the belt, and the defendant pinned her on the bed with his body. Mrs. Arnold related the defendant said if he were to place all of his body weight on her that she would stop breathing.

“Eventually, the defendant got up and Mrs. Arnold went to another part of the house,” court records state. “In a recorded conversation between Mrs. Arnold and a third party, Mrs. Arnold stated that she wanted to make a statement to the police, but she is scared of the defendant.”

However, when asked to sign a statement concerning the alleged assault in a Sept. 20 meeting with the TBI, Megan Arnold refused, although she admitted the account was accurate, court records reveal.

…The sheriff his uncle John Vanderveer and Joe Russell, a sheriff’s office accounting chief, face a 14-count federal indictment accusing them of profiting from inmates through the sale of JailCigs, an electronic cigarettes business. The three await a jury trial scheduled to start Feb. 7 before Middle Tennessee U.S. District Court Judge Kevin Sharp in Nashville.

Three make plea deals in sheriff corruption case

Three people involved in the pending trial on corruption charges against Gibson County’s former sheriff Thursday accepted plea agreements, reports the Jackson Sun.

Former Sheriff Charles “Chuck” Arnold, former Chief Deputy Jeff Maitland, and 10 other former Sheriff’s Office employees were indicted following an investigation by the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in late November 2015.

Joel Hughey, Eddie Bradford and Renea Terrell, who were among those indicted, pleaded Thursday to lesser charges. Hughey and Terrell pleaded guilty, and Bradford entered an Alford plea, known as a “best interest” plea.

The three defendants who made plea agreements may be called to testify against others in the case. Arnold, Maitland and the other remaining defendants decided they will go to trial.

Hughey and Bradford were fired from their positions as correctional officers after they were indicted on charges of theft of $1,000 or more and official misconduct. According to a state investigative audit report, Hughey and Bradford were among several employees accused of receiving overtime pay for work they didn’t do.

… Terrell, the contract nurse (working with the sheriff’s department), pleaded guilty to one count of theft and three counts of conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud and will serve three years on probation. She must pay $1,339.92 in restitution. Her case is subject to judicial diversion, which means she could have her criminal record expunged if she satisfies the terms of her probation.

Terrell was originally indicted on one count of conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud, 39 counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, 39 counts of official misconduct and two counts of theft

…Arnold is charged with more than 100 counts of official misconduct, theft and obtaining prescription drugs by fraud.

According to the audit report and indictments, Arnold’s official misconduct charges stem from accusations that he took money from a drug fund; forged a receipt; submitted excessive payment requests for himself, Maitland and another employee; authorized excessive compensation for multiple employees; falsified pay records; inflated invoices; and obtained controlled substances by fraud.

Sullivan County pays $50K to settle prison newspaper lawsuit

Sullivan County has agreed to pay Prison Legal News $50,000 to settle a federal lawsuit that claimed the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department was censoring and refusing to deliver publications and newsletters to inmates, reports the Kingsport Times-News.

Prison Legal News is a project of the Human Rights Defense Center, a Florida-based nonprofit organization whose mission is public education, prisoner education, advocacy and outreach in support of prisoners’ rights.

PLN filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greeneville in October 2013 naming the county, the sheriff’s department and Sheriff Wayne Anderson as the defendants.

PLN claims the department has been censoring and refusing to deliver its material to inmates held at the jail, including hundreds of copies of its monthly journal and dozens of copies of informational brochure packs.

The Sullivan County Jail used to have a postcards-only mail policy with all other mail, except legal mail, to be returned to sender. No packages were allowed unless approved by the jail’s facility administrator.

…Sullivan County Attorney Dan Street said the matter did not go to mediation. Since the mail policy had been changed and to keep from pulling the sheriff’s department into a trial, Street said the $50,000 settlement was a good way to put the matter to rest.

“We’re pleased that this case has resolved, and that prisoners at the Sullivan County jail can receive letters from their children and other family members instead of having their correspondence restricted to postcards,” said Alex Friedmann, managing editor of PLN. “Many people in jail are awaiting trial, have not been convicted and are presumed innocent, and retain most of their rights — including their rights under the First Amendment.”

Atheists settle lawsuit against TN sheriff for $41K

News release from American Atheists association
Chattanooga, TN—American Atheists and Bradley County and the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office have reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations of the U.S. Constitution by Bradley County and Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson.

As part of settlement agreement, the new official Bradley County Sheriff’s Department Facebook page will not be used to “promote or further any religion, religious organization, religious event or religious belief.” Additionally, the sheriff’s office has decided to not allow any comments on this Facebook page, making it an informational Facebook page only. The office’s original Facebook page was deactivated earlier this year and will be permanently deactivated.

While the county and sheriff admit to no wrongdoing under the agreement, the county will pay a total of $15,000 in damages to American Atheists and the local plaintiffs, Joshua Stevens and Jane Doe, and $26,000 in attorney’s fees.

“This settlement is a clear win for the plaintiffs, whose First Amendment rights to free speech and to be free of government establishment of religion were infringed upon,” said Amanda Knief, National Legal and Public Policy Director of American Atheists. “We are pleased the sheriff has agreed to do the right thing by no longer using this official government social media account to promote religion.”

“What is unfortunate, is that it took a lawsuit and more than $40,000 in taxpayer money for the county and sheriff to put this common sense policy in place,” Knief added. “We would have preferred that the sheriff allow citizens the freedom to comment and interact with the sheriff’s office on the Facebook page, but we were not able to reach agreement on that during mediation.”

The anonymous Bradley County resident represented by American Atheists added, “I have always said that Constitutional rights are worth fighting for, and I am proud that when tested, I stood by that principle. It was not easy to stand up to the county sheriff and some people in my community who disagreed with me. Despite some negative backlash, I do not regret taking action against government censorship. If you don’t stand up for yourself, you risk losing your rights.”

Sheriff Watson will be allowed to maintain a personal Facebook page that is clearly marked as containing only his personal opinions and not those of the department.

The lawsuit arose in May after Sheriff Watson posted an explicitly religious Easter message on the sheriff’s office’s official Facebook page. American Atheists sent a letter to the sheriff advising against such religious messages on a government-sponsored social media site. The sheriff responded by telling a local newspaper that he intended to be use his position as sheriff to proselytize. After posting the local newspaper article on the sheriff’s office’s Facebook page, commenters began criticizing the sheriff’s statements. The sheriff and employees of the sheriff’s department began deleting and blocking critical comments and users who were critical of the sheriff while leaving favorable comments on the governmental Facebook page.

Lawsuit: Bradley deputy wrongfully killed man, lied about it

The family of a 23-year-old man shot to death last year by a Bradley County deputy sheriff has filed a $3 million lawsuit saying he was needlessly killed and charging the sheriff’s office covered up what really happened, reports the Times-Free Press.

When the shooting happened on July 28, 2015, the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office said Deputy Tiffany Oakley was assaulted by a stranger and used deadly force to defend herself.

At the time, a sheriff’s office spokesman told the Times Free Press that Oakley was working the night shift and went home for a meal….when someone she didn’t know “stepped out of the shadows and accosted her.”

…However, the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Bradley County Circuit Court states Oakley knew who the man walking through the neighborhood at 2 a.m. was — that she and Allan F. Light III were “very familiar” and “had a friendly relationship” with each other, and that he was on his way either to her home or a neighbor’s.

The suit states that Light “was unarmed and was trying to get away” when Oakley “confronted and attacked” him. The suit claims she fired three shots from her service weapon, hitting him twice, and also shocked him with her Taser.

…Oakley “misrepresented the true facts, denied her previous relationship with, and familiarity with, the decedent and made false and intentionally untrue statements to police officers and investigators and investigating agencies in order to escape responsibility,” the lawsuit states.

Further, the lawsuit claims Sheriff Eric Watson “knowingly joined in and allowed the false statements of the defendant, Oakley, to be unchallenged and proffered statements to the media which were designed to mislead and misrepresent the true facts ”

The suit, filed by attorney Randy Rogers on behalf of Light’s parents, Allen F. Light Jr. and Marlene White, names Watson and Oakley as defendants both professionally and personally, along with Bradley County government. It claims wrongful death and violation of White’s constitutional rights.

…The American Atheists Counsel and a local “Jane Doe” plaintiff sued Watson and the sheriff’s office in May for First Amendment violations over what they said was proselytizing for Christianity on the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page and for censoring comments from those opposed to the religious posts.

The two sides said in a court filing earlier this month they had participated in a successful mediation but gave no details.

Multiple sources told the Times Free Press the settlement involves the county paying an amount in the neighborhood of $40,000 and possibly some kind of monitoring of the sheriff’s office’s social media posts.

Special prosecutor sought in sheriff’s dealings with woman inmate

A district attorney wants a special prosecutor to review complaints against Bradley County Sheriff Eric Watson filed by a county commissioner, reports the Times-Free Press. One allegation is that the former state legislator pulled strings to get an inmate with whom he allegedly had a personal relationship released from jail.

County Commissioner Dan Rawls, who has tussled with Watson’s office for months over what he claims is improper and deceptive practices, said he handed over allegations and evidence to 10th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Crump’s office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In a statement Thursday, Watson said he is cooperating with the investigation…. “I have done nothing wrong. I have not betrayed my oath or the public trust in any way… ,” he said. “My only agenda will be keeping the citizens of Bradley County safe.”

Among other questions, Rawls asked the investigators to look at whether Watson’s wife, Tenille Watson, is getting favorable treatment as a bail bondsman. Court records for March and April show Tenille Watson, who received her license in February, wrote more bail bonds by herself than the next-largest bonding agency did with three agents.

…The allegation regarding favoritism toward a female jail inmate has been detailed by multiple sources who spoke to the Times Free Press on condition of anonymity. The woman could not be reached for comment.

The newspaper obtained dozens of images of Facebook messages purportedly exchanged by Watson and the woman in the months before she was jailed in July 2015. His identity on the Facebook messages is listed as “Sheriff at Bradley County Sheriff’s Office,” and in one message, he gives her a cellphone number that matches his official sheriff’s office cellphone.

In a December 2014 exchange, the woman posts a picture of herself in a scanty red brassiere, and Watson asks whether she needs to be warmed up. In January 2015, he tells her they should “hang out” and she says she’ll take off work to go on a trip with him.

The images obtained by the Times Free Press continue, including a message at 5:48 p.m. July 6, the date of her arrest on a felony robbery charge, urgently asking him to call her.

County records show the woman was booked into the Bradley County Jail at 7:41 p.m. that day and released at 9:54 p.m., her bond posted by Cumberland Bail Bonds (the company that employs Watson’s wife).

A note on the file states: “Received call from Sheriff Watson stating [the woman’s] bond lowered to 1000 by Judge Randalph [sic] and there is a note on affidavit stating bond is 1000.”

General Sessions Judge Sheridan Randolph remembered the case. He said the warrant originally called for no bond, but someone — he didn’t remember a name — called that evening and asked him for a lesser amount. He said the caller described the woman as a confidential informant.

“Ordinarily I’d probably set her bond at $30,000 the next morning,” Randolph said. “Why he would get so involved is unusual.”

Rawls said his contacts at the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office told him the woman “is not an informant, never was, never will be.”

A few months later, records show, the woman was set free just four days into a separate 120-day sentence for violating probation.

The violation of probation charge, for a 2013 DUI, was triggered by the robbery arrest.
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Note: See also the Cleveland Daily Banner’s report.

Ketron eyes legislation to ease ouster of elected officials

Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron says he wants to make it easier to remove elected officals from office after they are accused of crimes, according to The Daily News Journal. His inspiration is the charges filed against Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold.

“There should be some way to have that individual removed from office, so that’s something my office is going to be looking at,” the Murfreesboro Republican senator said during a Monday phone interview. “I think we need to review the law to see what is available to help protect the citizens. We are going to be looking at what could be done, but it would take a vote in both houses and have to be signed by the governor to change that.”

Arnold, his uncle John Vanderveer and Joe Russell, the sheriff’s office’s chief of accounting, face a 14-count federal indictment accusing them of illegally profiting off inmates through the sale of JailCigs, an electronic cigarettes business. Their trial is scheduled Aug. 2 in Nashville.

The Rutherford County Commission members have talked about pursuing an ouster suit with attorney John T. Bobo, but many are also worried that civil litigation involving depositions could interfere with the criminal case.

Although they are not pursuing an ouster suit at this time, the commissioners in a 21-0 vote on Thursday followed state Sens. Ketron and Jim Tracy in urging Arnold to resign.

“I understand why he’s not resigning,” Ketron said. “I’m sure he needs to make money, and he needs to plea bargain with a goal to get a lesser sentence.”

Rutherford commission to consider ousting indicted sheriff

Sheriff Robert Arnold could face an ouster suit in addition to his criminal charges if the Rutherford County Commission agrees next week, according to the Daily News Journal.

Commissioner Robert Stevens persuaded the six present Steering, Legislative & Governmental Committee members Monday night to unanimously vote for the full 21-member County Commission to go into private executive session during the next regular meeting with representation from the county attorney’s firm to ask if an ouster suit should be pursued.

Any ouster vote would take place in public after the executive session during a meeting that’s scheduled to start at 6 p.m. June 16 in the second-floor courtroom of the County Courthouse on the Square in Murfreesboro.

“I would be very comfortable that the full commission would consider that at the next meeting,” said Stevens, who is an attorney from Smyrna. “That’s what our constituents want.”

Arnold, along with his uncle, John Vanderveer, and Joe Russell, the sheriff’s chief over administration, faces a 14-count federal indictment accusing them of profiting from the sale of JailCigs to inmates. The three were in handcuffs May 27 when they entered the federal courtroom in Nashville of U.S. Magistrate Judge John Bryant.

…In addition to scheduling the full County Commission to go into executive session about a possible ouster suit, the committee voted 4-2 on a recommended resolution urging the sheriff to resign. Committee Chairman Trey Gooch said the full commission will vote on the resignation resolution before going into executive session about the ouster issue.

Commissioners Robert Peay and Allen McAdoo opposed voting on the recommended resolution asking Arnold to resign because they said they wanted to hear from attorneys first.

Peay noted how District Attorney Jennings Jones wants to refrain from an ouster suit at this time to prevent depositions in a civil case from interfering in the federal criminal case.

Partisan sniping over Rutherford sheriff corruption indictment

An indicted Middle Tennessee sheriff says he has no intention of resigning despite calls for him to do so from Republican legislators and the state Democratic Party chairwoman declaring him an example of “Tennessee Republican corruption.”

Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold told the Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro on Saturday that he has no intention of resigning and, in fact, plans to seek re-election in 2018. The sheriff, one of his top deputies and an uncle were indicted last week on multiple charges of fraud, conspiracy and other misconduct in connection with their alleged profits from a company that sold e-cigarettes to inmates at the county jail, which Arnold oversees.

Arnold was first elected in 2010, defeating the incumbent Democratic sheriff. His win — followed by re-election in 2014 — has been cited as an example in the Tennessee Republican Party’s “Red to the Roots” campaign, which officially got underway in 2013 with the goal of getting more Republicans elected to local office.

Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Mary Mancini pounced on Arnold’s indictment and tied it to the “Red to the Roots” effort, declaring in a news release, “From Washington, D.C. to Murfreesboro, Tennessee Republicans’ corruption goes from the top all the way to their roots.

“From Sen. (Bob) Corker’s insider trading scandal to Gov. (Bill) Haslam awarding no-bid contracts to his friends to Sheriff Arnold using his position to line his own pockets, it’s clear Tennessee Republicans see our government as their personal piggy bank,” Mancini said.

On the other side of the aisle, Brent Leatherwood, executive director of the state GOP sent this rejoinder:

“Tennesseans expect their elected officials to conduct themselves with the highest ethical standards. That is apparently not what they’re getting in Rutherford County and that’s not right. That said, anyone with a basic understanding of our state’s history knows Democrats have the market cornered on corruption. From (former Gov. Ray) Blanton to (former state Sen. John) Ford to (sitting state Rep. Joe) Armstrong, the TNDP has a history of supporting some of Tennessee’s biggest mischief-makers. It would be refreshing if they’d clean up their own messes first. Instead this is more of the same hypocrisy we’ve become accustomed to with the Tennessee Democratic Party.”

Two Republican state senators who share representation of Rutherford County, Senate Republican Caucus Chairman Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro and Sen. Jim Tracy of Shelbyville, have both called on Arnold to resign since the indictment.
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Note: Relevant previous posts include those HERE and HERE.