Ex-Mississippi sheriff to spend 15 years in prison for embezzlement, firearms trafficking

Published 1:31 pm Tuesday, July 30, 2019

A former Mississippi sheriff has been sentenced to 15 years in prison, weeks after he pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in stolen firearms and two counts of embezzlement.

Tim Mitchell resigned his post in Webster County on June 12, the same day as his plea.

Mitchell was accused of widespread abuses of office in a 10-count felony indictment, including seeking sex from county jail inmates, ordering deputies to steal guns and drugs from evidence, and threatening to bury a subordinate “in a hole” if she told anyone.

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WCBI-TV reports that Mitchell and former Webster County Chief Investigator Landon Griffin appeared Tuesday in Choctaw County Circuit Court.

Griffin previously pleaded guilty to embezzlement and transferring a stolen firearm. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.