Former Bay Springs clerk sentenced for embezzling city funds

BAY SPRINGS, Miss. (AP) - A former administrator in a western Mississippi city has been sentenced to prison for embezzling city funds.

U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel on Wednesday sentenced former Bay Springs City Clerk Randy James, 56, to four years and two months in federal prison followed by three years of probation, State Auditor Shad White said.

James pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering and making false statements on a federal tax return before Senior U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett on Oct. 7, 2020, WDAM-TV reported.

In 2017 and 2018, James worked as city clerk and, during his tenure, embezzled more than $300,000 between August 2017 and April 2018 by creating fake invoices from fictional companies for the costs of false services that were never approved by the city. James redirected city funds by obtaining checks from the city, cashing the checks at a local bank and wrote those checks overseas to international scammers in hopes to win money in a lottery scheme.

Prosecutors said he also made false statements on his personal 2018 federal income tax return by under-reporting receipts by $193,331.

White’s office recently issued a demand letter to James for $325,562 that included the amount of his embezzlement, plus interest and investigative costs. James agreed to pay a total of $420,562 in restitution in his plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office.