Sheriff arrested and charged for profiting from inmate labor and embezzling funds

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

0 1 minute read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV/Gray News) – A grand jury has indicted a Tennessee sheriff on more than a dozen charges of official misconduct in two counties.

Gibson County Sheriff Paul Thomas, 52, was arrested and booked into the Downtown Nashville Detention Center on Wednesday.

According to a report obtained by WSMV, Thomas was indicted twice on a series of charges in Davidson and Gibson counties. The charges include forgery, computer crimes and theft.

Thomas was indicted on a total of 22 counts.

An investigation by the Tennessee comptroller's office describes a plan by Thomas to “enrich himself and a group of investigators by profiting from the labor and care of inmates in Gibson County and the Tennessee Department of Corrections.”

According to a statement from the office: “In 2020, Thomas and a group of local investors created three for-profit companies known collectively as the Alliance Group. These companies staffed local businesses, housed current and former inmates in a halfway house called Orchard House, and provided transportation for work release inmates and former inmates to and from work.

Investigators determined that Thomas spent $1,417,204.06 in salary costs and inmate deductions to benefit the Alliance Group from February 2020 to October 2022. At least 170 inmates in Thomas' custody were employed by the Alliance recruitment agency during the investigation.

Our investigators identified multiple deficiencies within the Sheriff's Office that coincided with this scheme. We also learned that Sheriff Thomas failed to disclose his ownership interest in Alliance in his annual filings with the Tennessee Ethics Commission and violated his duty to properly secure and guard inmates until they are legally released.

The indictment also accuses Thomas of failing to ensure inmates were properly guarded to prevent them from escaping.