TUNICA SHERIFF FACES CHARGES

Jerry Ellington Indicted On Two Counts Of Extortion And Two Counts Of
Bribery

Authorities arrested Tunica County Sheriff Jerry Ellington Wednesday -
the second Tunica County sheriff to face corruption charges in the
past four years.

He faces charges of taking kickbacks from bail bondsmen and receiving
kickbacks from money stolen from drug dealers.

His arrest is the latest setback in a county that in recent years has
been overwhelmed by corruption. Former Sheriff John Pickett III was
sentenced to 20 months in prison after pleading guilty to extorting
more than $86,000 from a bail bondsman. That conviction was one of 10
resulting from a federal probe into corruption in Tunica County
several years ago.

A federal grand jury indictment made public Wednesday charges
Ellington with two counts of extortion and two counts of bribery.
Charges resulted from an investigation by an FBI-led force that also
includes the U.S. attorney's office, the Mississippi attorney
general's office, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the
Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol.

"We hate to see it happen, but it serves notice that someone who takes
advantage of their public position is not going to be tolerated at any
level," said patrol spokesman Warren Strain.

If convicted, the 45-year-old sheriff faces up to 60 years in prison
and $1 million in fines. He couldn't be reached for comment.

County spokesman Jeff Piselli said Chief Deputy Leonard Conway will
take over Ellington's duties pending the outcome of the case. "The
sheriff will remain sheriff until he is voted out of office or he
leaves office for one reason or another," Piselli said. "He was
elected by the people."

Ellington appeared Wednesday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Allan Alexander, who released him on a $10,000 unsecured bond. His
arraignment is set for 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Ellington told Alexander he plans to hire his own attorney.

The indictment accuses Ellington of soliciting and accepting more than
$5,000 in kickbacks from an unnamed deputy between June 2002 and Jan.
3 in return for promoting the deputy and giving him a pay raise "to
create further cash for the deputy to kick back illegally to the
defendant sheriff and to place the deputy in a position to steal money
from drug dealers and others to split with the defendant sheriff."

The indictment also accuses Ellington of extortion in that scheme,
providing an after-hours vehicle to the deputy "to provide the deputy
opportunities to steal money for the benefit of the defendant sheriff."

Since May, Ellington demanded and accepted cash payoffs plus 30
percent of the premium on every bond written by a bail bondsman in
exchange for the bondsman's business, those payoffs exceeding $5,000,
the indictment says.

In 1999, voters chose Ellington over 10 rival candidates to replace
Pickett. On Aug. 5, voters will decide whether to keep Ellington.

"His name will remain on the ballot," said Tunica County Board of
Supervisors President James E. Dunn. "You're innocent until found
guilty, no matter what the charges."

In June, 17 deputies sued the sheriff, accusing him of threatening
their jobs if they didn't purchase $25 tickets for his May campaign
banquet.

"If you don't buy a ticket, you ain't with me, plain and simple,"
Ellington is reportedly heard saying on the tape. "It's just a dollar
a day. Most of you throw that away in a day's time on Jujubes (candy)."

Ellington defended himself then, saying he did nothing wrong and that
the allegations against him were politically motivated.

Of the charges outlined in the federal indictment, Dunn remarked, "You
would think they would learn from the past administration's mistakes.
Tunica is not the same little small town it was."

In fact, the county has seen crime rise more than a 1,000 percent
since the casinos came to Mississippi in the 1990s.

It isn't the first time Ellington, who sings in a gospel group, has
faced corruption charges. A Tunica County grand jury indicted him on
grand larceny charges years ago when he was a deputy, accusing him of
taking more than $1,000 from the evidence room. "He admitted having
taken it," recalled District Attorney Laurence Mellen.

But Ellington paid back all the missing money, and a jury acquitted
him.

Two witnesses against Ellington in that trial were Pickett and deputy
Willie Lee "Cat Daddy" Starks, who later pleaded guilty to extortion
after admitting he protected Club Sigg, described by authorities as an
after-hours spot "where illegal drug sales, prostitution and live sex
acts on stage were rampant."

After the jury acquitted Ellington, then-Sheriff Pickett hired
Ellington back, the district attorney said.

"We've got some very honorable law enforcement with whom I work
closely, but some things go bad and when they do, we prosecute and we
certainly intend to," Mellen said.

Edwin Worthington, special agent in charge of the FBI in Mississippi,
agreed that the majority of officers are honest and hard working. "It
is for that reason that one of the FBI's top priorities is to combat
public corruption at all levels," he said.