Post by WaTcHeR on Aug 31, 2006 11:55:52 GMT -5
08.31.2006 - Lincoln County Sheriff Wiley Calcote was arrested Wednesday on a 15-count indictment that includes charges of embezzlement, tampering with a witness, wire fraud and insurance fraud.
Calcote's wife, Marlette, who answered the telephone late Wednesday at the couple's home, said, "We have no comment."
Calcote, a former constable, is in his first term as sheriff in the south-central Mississippi county, which is more than 50 miles south of Jackson. He turned himself in to authorities Wednesday afternoon and was released on his own recognizance.
District Attorney Dee Bates said he could not elaborate on the felony charges.
Calcote also is facing two counts of failing to confine inmates, misdemeanor offenses. Calcote is alleged to have allowed some trusties to come and go from the jail at will, Bates said. "The inmates are not being charged with escape," he said.
The investigation, which included the state Audit Department, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the state Department of Corrections, has been ongoing for several months, Bates said.
Calcote's arrest is the latest involving Mississippi law enforcement in recent months. Last week, Roger Williams, 43, Chris Smith, 34, and Randall Parker, 32, all former Jones County deputies, pleaded guilty to an array of charges, including planting evidence, assaulting suspects and embezzlement. They will be sentenced in January.
Earlier this month, Ruleville Police Chief Ronald Durelle Robinson and Assistant Chief Larry Mitchell were arrested after being indicted on charges of extorting cash payoffs in exchange for providing protection to alleged crack dealers. They are scheduled to be tried Sept. 25.
"Nobody is above the law," State Auditor Phil Bryant said. "Of course, an indictment is just that. (Calcote will have) his day in court."
www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060831/NEWS/608310398/1001/news
Calcote's wife, Marlette, who answered the telephone late Wednesday at the couple's home, said, "We have no comment."
Calcote, a former constable, is in his first term as sheriff in the south-central Mississippi county, which is more than 50 miles south of Jackson. He turned himself in to authorities Wednesday afternoon and was released on his own recognizance.
District Attorney Dee Bates said he could not elaborate on the felony charges.
Calcote also is facing two counts of failing to confine inmates, misdemeanor offenses. Calcote is alleged to have allowed some trusties to come and go from the jail at will, Bates said. "The inmates are not being charged with escape," he said.
The investigation, which included the state Audit Department, Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the state Department of Corrections, has been ongoing for several months, Bates said.
Calcote's arrest is the latest involving Mississippi law enforcement in recent months. Last week, Roger Williams, 43, Chris Smith, 34, and Randall Parker, 32, all former Jones County deputies, pleaded guilty to an array of charges, including planting evidence, assaulting suspects and embezzlement. They will be sentenced in January.
Earlier this month, Ruleville Police Chief Ronald Durelle Robinson and Assistant Chief Larry Mitchell were arrested after being indicted on charges of extorting cash payoffs in exchange for providing protection to alleged crack dealers. They are scheduled to be tried Sept. 25.
"Nobody is above the law," State Auditor Phil Bryant said. "Of course, an indictment is just that. (Calcote will have) his day in court."
www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060831/NEWS/608310398/1001/news
