Two of three former officials with the City of Tryon facing embezzlement and conspiracy charges have waived their right to preliminary hearings and their arraignments have been set.
Two charges of embezzlement and one forconspiracywerefiledinLincolnCounty District Court May 10 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.
One charge of embezzlement and conspiracy was also filed on May 10 in Lincoln County District Court against Jessica Turpin who served as the Utility Clerk and the Court Clerk in Tryon.
The charges were filed as result of a special investigative audit. The audit was released in February of 2022.
On Jan. 26, appearing before Special Judge Emily Mueller, both of the Pricketts waived their right to a preliminary hearing. Judge Mueller set their arraignments for 9:30 a.m. on March 14.
Jered Prickett also was theAnimal Control Officer and the Tryon UtilityAuthority utility operator, the information states.
Judge Mueller has scheduled a prepreliminary hearing for Turpin at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 2.
She also was a utility operator forTryon’s Utility Authority.
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 variousmisappropriationsofmoneyheand 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.
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.