MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Wednesday, the sheriff of Tennessee pleaded not guilty to charges that he illegally made money off of the work of jail inmates that he was in charge of and illegally kept dozens of them in a home outside of the prison.
William Massey, Paul Thomas’s lawyer, said in a text message that Thomas pleaded guilty to 18 charges at a meeting in circuit court in Trenton. In the county where he is still sheriff, Gibson’s next court date is Oct. 22, Massey said.
Thomas was charged with 22 counts in May in Gibson and Davidson counties. These included official misconduct, theft, fraud, and computer crimes involving jail inmates that he was in charge of.
The four charges against Thomas in Davidson County will be brought before a judge in Nashville at a later date. Massey has said that Thomas should be thought of as innocent until proven guilty, and he is looking forward to defending himself in court.
Researchers found that Thomas had money in three for-profit businesses that helped local businesses hire staff, kept current and former prisoners in a transitional home, and drove work-release prisoners and former prisoners to and from work.
Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said on June 13 that Thomas did not tell the Tennessee Ethics Commission about his business stake in the companies, which are collectively known as Alliance Group.
Investigators say Thomas used more than $1.4 million in prison fees and deductions to make money for Alliance Group. Investigators say that during the investigation, Alliance’s staffing firm hired at least 170 prisoners who were in Thomas’s care.
Alliance Transportation was paid $18 a day to take prisoners to and from work. Meanwhile, officials say that 82 prisoners were allowed to live at Orchard House transitional home instead of the Gibson County jail without the right paperwork, and were charged $40 a day by the home.
The comptroller’s office said that he got more than $181,000 from Alliance in pay, perks, and legal services. The money came from illegally using prisoners to work, the office said.
Investigators say Thomas also lied to the Tennessee Department of Correction by listing the county jail as the place where the prisoners were housed in the state’s offender management system instead of the transitional home. This caused the county to get more than $500,000 back from the state.
Officials say Thomas then told the county to give that money to Orchard House without telling or getting permission from the prison department.
The comptroller’s office said, “Orchard House was not connected to the jail and was not staffed by jail staff. There was no contract between the county and Orchard House.”
Gibson County is northwest of Memphis and is mostly rural. More than seven years ago, Chuck Arnold, another sheriff in Gibson County, pleaded guilty to fraud, theft, forgery, and official misconduct linked to taking drugs and money from a jail medication fund. Thomas has now been charged with the same crimes.
Arnold got a probationary term.
