Preliminary hearings have been continued for two of three former officials with the City of Tryon facing embezzlement and conspiracy charges as the result of a special investigative audit have made their initial appearances and their prepreliminary hearings have been scheduled.
The audit was released in February of this year.
Special Judge Emily Mueller has scheduled pre-preliminary hearings for 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 for former Police Chief Jered Dewayne Prickett, 47, and Candace Marie Prickett, 47, who was Clerk-Treasurer.
Jered Prickett also was the Animal Control Officer and the Tryon Utility Authority utility operator, the information states.
On Dec. 15, Judge Mueller scheduled preliminary hearings for Jered and Candace Prickett for Jan. 26, 2023.
Two charges of embezzlement and one for conspiracy were filed in Lincoln County District Court May 10 against former Police Chief Jered Dewayne Prickett, 47. A $10,000 warrant was originally issued for him.
It was returned and he made his initial appearance July 7 before Special Judge Emily Mueller. She ordered him to return Sep. 15 for his pre-preliminary hearing and to have an attorney.
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. She had a $10,000 warrant seeking her arrest but a $10,000 promise to appear bond was filed.
She also appeared before Judge Mueller on July 7 and she, too, was ordered back in court on Sep. 15 for her pre-preliminary hearing and to have an attorney.
One charge of embezzlement and conspiracy was filed on May 10 in Lincoln County District Court against Jessica Turpin who served as the Utility Clerk and the Court Clerk in Tryon. A $7,500 warrant originally was issued for her arrest.
Court records show that Turpin made her initial appearance on June 30 before Judge Mueller.
On Oct. 13, Judge Mueller continued her pre-preliminary hearing for Dec. 15.
On that date, she continued it until Jan. 19, 2023.
She also was a utility operator for Tryon’s Utility Authority, according to the information.
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 accuses 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 accuses 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.
If convicted on all three counts, Jered Prickett could be imprisoned up to 26 years and fined up to $25,000.
Count 1 against Candace Marie Prickett accuses 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.
She could spend up to 18 years and pay $15,000 in restitution and fines if convicted on both charges.
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 charges her with conspiring and agreeing with the two Pricketts to commit the crime of embezzlement.
State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd said in February 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.