Two of three former officials with the City of Tryon facing embezzlement and conspiracy charges have pleaded guilty and been handed deferred sentences.
Two charges of embezzlement and one for conspiracy were filed in Lincoln County District Court May 10, 2022 against former Police Chief Jered Dewayne Prickett, 47.
One charge of embezzlement and one for conspiracy were filed the same day in Lincoln County District Court against Candace Marie Prickett, 47, who was Clerk-Treasurer. She also served as Utility assistant.
On Tuesday, appearing before District Judge John Canavan in Chandler, Jered, as the result of a plea bargain, withdrew his previous plea and pleaded guilty to all three counts. The court received the pleas and found him guilty as charged on all counts.
The judge deferred sentencing for a period of five years, assessed Prickett a $100 fine, $100 VCA, he is to pay court costs and 991C fees; ordered him to make restitution and placed him on supervised probation with the Oklahoma Court Services. He was further ordered to report to the Court Clerk’s cost administrator.
Candace Prickett, also appearing before Judge Canavan, and as the result of a plead bargain, withdrew her previous plea, too, and pleaded guilty to two counts. The judge received the plea and found her guilty on both counts. He handed her a two-year deferred sentence, assessed her a $100 fine, $100 VCA, ordered her to pay costs and 991C fees, restitution was ordered to be paid in full on Tuesday.
She was placed on supervised probation with the Oklahoma Court Services, and ordered to report to the Court Clerk cost administrator.
On May 16 this year, appearing before District Judge Traci Soderstrom, both waived their jury trials. The judge received their waivers and set the cause for further disposition at 9:30 a.m. July 18.
One charge of embezzlement and conspiracy was also filed on May 10, 2022 in Lincoln County District Court against Jessica Turpin who served as the Utility Clerk and the Court Clerk in Tryon.
According to the records, the state dismissed both charges against Turpin.
Turpin also was a utility operator for Tryon’s Utility Authority, according to the information.
The charges were filed as result of a special investigative audit. The audit was released in February of 2022.
Jered Prickett also was the Animal Control Officer and the Tryon Utility Authority utility operator, the information states.
The information contained in an affidavit filed in the case by James M. Hendrickson, a District Attorney investigator, states, “All three of these were employees who performed essential town functions and were primarily responsible for the Town’s day-to-day operations.”
Count 1 against Jered Prickett accused him of between Jan. 1, 2013 and May 13, 2019, of depositing four donated checks belonging to the Tryon Police Department totaling $3,960 into his personal bank account, using the only bank debit card for the Town of Tryon Police Authority to make withdrawals totaling $4,866.50 for personal use and using the Town Conoco Phillips fuel card for personal use totaling $2,964.35.
In the second embezzlement count against Jered Prickett, he is charged during the same time frame of fraudulently misappropriating funds for unauthorized payments including $25,401,21 of improper holiday pay, 19 extra payroll checks totaling $18,672.96, 710 hours of unearned vacation time totaling $15,170.90, 598 hours of undocumented overtime pay and 42 hours of hazard pay totaling $525 with the total sum of $70,987.69 that belonged to the city of Tryon and had been entrusted to him by the city.
The conspiracy count accused him of conspiring with both Candace Marie Prickett and Jessica Marie Turpin to commit the crime of embezzlement, a felony, by defrauding the city of Tryon through various misappropriations of money he and the other two and did so in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Count 1 against Candace Marie Prickett accused her of between Jan. 1, 2017 and May 13, 2019, of embezzlement by fraudulently misappropriating funds for unauthorized payments including 119 hours of unearned vacation time totaling $1,487.50, 272 hours of unauthorized hazard pay totaling $3,400 and $325 of improper holiday pay that belonged to the city of Tryon and was entrusted to her by the city.
The conspiracy count against her charges Prickett with conspiring with Jered Dewayne Prickett and Turpin to commit the crime of embezzlement by defrauding the city of Tryon through various misappropriations of money she and the other two did so in furtherance of the conspiracy.
Turpin, on the embezzlement charge, is accused between Jan. 1, 2017 and May 13, 2019 of fraudulently misappropriating the sum of $,3,120 for 280 hours of received hazard pay which was not approved or authorized by the city of Tryon.
The conspiracy count charged her with conspiring and agreeing with the two Pricketts to commit the crime of embezzlement.
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said in February of 2022 as she released the findings of a special investigative audit that found more than $95,000 was misappropriated in the Town of Tryon that three former employees reportedly misappropriated almost $80,000 in payroll.
Byrd, whose office conducted the special investigative audit, added, “The person in charge of law enforcement appears to have been breaking the law.”
The audit found the majority of the unauthorized payroll amount was received by Jered Prickett.
“The Board of Trustees improperly appointed the clerk-treasurer, Candace Prickett, to an elected position which she held for more than eight years.
“That is a violation in state law,” Byrd added.
Byrd’s office conducted the audit in response to a request by the Town’s Board of Trustees. The Trustees asked for the audit of questionable financial activity of former employees.
Byrd said the Trustees had discovered there were not sufficient funds to meet the Town’s financial obligations. On June 12, 2019, the Board of Trustees officially requested her office to conduct the investigative audit of the Town and the Town’s Utility Authority.