NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A former Army post inspector whose job was to investigate misconduct pleaded guilty on Tuesday to stealing the identities of other officers to obtain bank loans and then trying to blame his crimes on a deceased officer.
James Robert Jones was an assistant inspector general at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee border in 2013, when he used his position to obtain personal identifying information of active duty officers, some of whom were deployed to Afghanistan.
According to the plea agreement, the 43-year-old Jones, of Woodlawn, used the officers’ birth dates, Social Security numbers and other personal information to open bank accounts in their names and then apply for $72,000 in loans.
After he was indicted last year, Jones, whose rank was sergeant first class, told The Associated Press in an email that he was innocent. He called the allegations “disturbing and shocking” and said he was “embarrassed and saddened for the government.”
But in the plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in Nashville on Tuesday, Jones admitted to the scheme, including trying to place blame on a deceased U.S. Army officer after the fraud was discovered.
In an interview with a U.S. Secret Service agent, Jones falsely claimed he had obtained the personal information of the victims from the deceased officer, according to the plea agreement. He then asked a co-worker to delete records from his laptop.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Officials say former TV judge Joe Brown is being fined $25 a day for failing to file his most recent campaign finance disclosure statement in the race for Shelby County district attorney.
Drew Rawlins, executive director of the state’s Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, tells The Commercial Appeal (https://bit.ly/QFpaTKhttps://bit.ly/QFpaTK ) that Brown has not filed his pre-primary financial disclosure report, which was due April 29.
Brown, a Democrat, is challenging Republican incumbent Amy Weirich. The election is Aug. 7.
The $25-a-day fine began Monday, and will accrue at that rate for 30 days. Rawlins says that if the statement isn’t filed by the end of that period, the fine becomes $10,000.
Brown told the newspaper Monday that he didn’t know whether the forms had been filed.
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A Davidson County election worker has been fired after problems with electronic poll books allowed some people to vote twice.
The Tennessean (https://tnne.ws/1mSs1aQ) reports Election Commissioner Tricia Herzfeld wrote a letter to the elections administrator saying that in addition to double voting, there also have been reports of lost voting records and voters being turned away. Unless those issues are addressed, Herzfeld has said she could vote not to certify the election results at the May 19 commission meeting.
Election officials have said that some people were allowed to vote twice because an outside vendor did not update electronic poll books with the names of early voters before Election Day. The fired Davidson County worker failed to cross-check early voting tallies against the poll books.
Herzfeld also complained that election officials did not want to make the problems public.
In her letter to Elections Administrator Kent Wall, Herzfeld writes, “As you are aware, I have repeatedly asked for an emergency meeting of the Davison County Election Commission so that the issues with the loss of early voter histories, double voting, and potential voters who were turned away from the polls on Election Day could be investigated and the public notified as soon as possible.”
Davidson County previously had problems with the electronic poll books.
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CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) - Low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines is launching service to 14 cities from Dulles International Airport.
The Denver-based airline announced Tuesday that service will begin from Dulles in August and September.
Last month, Frontier announced a new fare structure that pushes it further toward the model of ultra-low-cost carriers that charge deeply discounted base fares, with additional fees for items like use of overhead bins, or extra leg room.
Nonstop service to Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Minneapolis/St. Paul; Chicago-O’Hare and Tampa, Florida begins Aug. 19. Service to Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Las Vegas; Memphis, Tennessee; Fort Myers, Florida; St. Louis and St. Augustine/Jacksonville, Florida, begins Sept. 8.
The airline kicked off service with a 12-hour fare sale Tuesday that clogged the website with travelers seeking $15 one-way fares.
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