GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - Authorities say a former spokeswoman for a Mississippi sheriff’s department has been indicted.
The Sun Herald reports 47-year-old Cherie Ward was indicted on a felony charge of embezzlement. She was arrested Tuesday and her bond was set at $5,000 on Wednesday.
Ward is accused of embezzling over $1,000 from the Thin Blue Line Trust, a nonprofit organization of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Court records state that she had access to the account because of her employment with the sheriff’s department. The alleged embezzlement occurred in 2015.
In 2012, Ward was hired as a spokeswoman for the department by former Sheriff Mike Byrd, who was later indicted and convicted on state and federal felony charges. Ward worked as a spokeswoman until 2016.
It’s unclear if she has a lawyer.
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Information from: The Sun Herald, http://www.sunherald.com
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