The Justice Department issued the following statement.
Randy James, 56, the former City Clerk of Bay Springs in Jasper County, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel for the federal crimes of money laundering and making false statements on a federal tax return, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca, Special Agent in Charge James E. Dorsey of the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Atlanta Field Office, and Mississippi State Auditor Shad White. James pled guilty to the charges on October 7, 2020, before Senior U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett.
James was sentenced to serve a total of 50 months in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $265,561.84 to the Office of the Mississippi State Auditor on behalf of the City of Bay Springs, as well as $95,000 in restitution to the IRS and $60,000 in restitution to RLI Surety, which was the bonding surety company for the City of Bay Springs. James was also ordered to pay $30,200 in fines and special assessments.
During 2017 and 2018, Randy James was employed by the City of Bay Springs, Mississippi, as City Clerk, and had control over certain financial aspects of the city. During this time, James embezzled just over $300,000 from Bay Springs between August 2017 and April 2018 by creating fraudulent invoices from fictitious companies for the costs of false services that were never approved or incurred by the city. James diverted city funds by obtaining checks from the City of Bay Springs, cashing the checks at a local bank, and wiring those funds overseas to international scammers in the hope of winning money in a lottery scheme. James also made false statements on his personal 2018 Federal Income Tax Return by under-reporting gross receipts by $193,331.00.
The State Auditor’s Office previously issued a demand letter to James for $325,562 which included the amount of his embezzlement, plus interest and investigative costs. In his publicly filed plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, James agreed to pay a total of $420,562 in restitution.
Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca commended the federal, state and local law enforcement cooperation displayed in this case. The case was investigated by the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.
9 comments:
Eight months in the position and absconds with $300k? Would be interesting to see how much of the money is ever returned. I bet $0. He's blown it all it on an overseas lottery scheme? Seems like a longer duration in a penal colony would cure some of the individuals that think they can take the money and run.
Restitution my ass. He doesn't have cigarette money.
Life is tough. It's tougher when you're stupid.
He won't pay a dime back, and when he doesn't absolutely nothing will happen. When people fail to pay fines, restitution, etc. and are jailed for failure to do so, liberals like to call it "debtors prison". We will live to see the day that it is unlawful to imprison someone for failing to pay a fine or make restitution.
Actually, when someone fails to pay a fine that they are ordered to pay be a judge, I think it's called "contempt of court" for failing to abide by the order of the court.
@10:55 How long do you want the guy to stay in prison? He is going to cost taxpayers for his time in jail anyway. Once he is out and working again, just start garnishing from his pay. Why hold him for life since it wasn't a violent crime.
@ 10:55 or for that matter kill another.
How many people in Mississippi fell for overseas lottery scams prior to Mississippi getting the lottery? This isn’t the first one that I heard of. This state was targeted for that very reason. The victims had no idea that you aren’t going to win the lottery without a ticket. The part that makes them the most stupid is that they actually believed someone would call them about winning tickets not in the victims possession, instead of just claiming the prize for themselves.
Once the money is wired out of the USA you Cannot get it back!
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