Jackson, Miss. – Wilkinson County Deputy Sheriff Christopher
James, 43, and Kelvin Tolliver, 54, both residents of Woodville, Mississippi,
have been indicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges, announced U.S.
Attorney Mike Hurst and FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Freeze.
James and Tolliver are charged with one count of conspiracy
and one count of wire fraud involving a scheme and artifice to defraud
Mississippi Farm Bureau. The indictment alleges that James and Tolliver
conspired to fraudulently obtain insurance proceeds by creating and submitting
a false offense report with the Wilkinson County Sheriff’s Department stating
that Tolliver’s ATV had been stolen when, in fact, the ATV had not been stolen.
James used his position as a Wilkinson County Deputy Sheriff to prepare and
submit the false offense report, which was used to obtain over $12,000 in
insurance proceeds. James was also employed as a guard at the Louisiana State
Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana.
Tolliver is scheduled to be arraigned before United States
Magistrate Judge Keith Ball today at 2:30 p.m. James was arraigned before
United States Magistrate Judge Ball on Wednesday, March 13, 2018, and released
on a $10,000 bond.
The case is currently scheduled for trial in Natchez before
United States District Judge David C. Bramlette on May 6, 2019.
U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the Public Corruption Task
Force of the FBI’s Jackson Division, which is comprised of Special Agents with
the FBI and Investigators from the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office, for
their work on the investigation and commended the assistance of the DEA and the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant
United States Attorney Dave Fulcher.
The public is reminded that an indictment is merely a charge
and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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