JACKSON – True to his word, Mississippi State Auditor Stacey Pickering is continuing in his effort to hold political officials accountable for their actions on misspent funds and to bring to bear the need for more fiscal efficiency and productivity in government.
Pickering achieved this, once again, on Friday when he presented a check for $110,000 to the Alcorn County Board of Supervisors. Those funds were misused by former Alcorn County Supervisor Danny Crotts.
An investigation by the state auditor’s office revealed that Crotts, 59, who was elected in 1992 and served until 2007, misused District 2 road funds and other funds for his privately owned bar, billing the county for its expenses.
“Crotts used a personally owned barn named Crossroad Blues with a bar and dance floor while billing the county over $15,000 for a ‘District 2 Shop,'” Pickering said earlier this year. “Utilities were paid by the county along with numerous purchases that were unauthorized or in violation of State law.”
Special agents with the state auditor’s office also determined during their investigation of Crotts that road work was performed on private property; county property was used for personal use; automotive parts were purchased for vehicles not on county inventory; and a tractor was rented for $950 a month for 63 months using funds restricted by law for road and bridge use, but the tractor was never used for work in District 2.
Pickering said Crotts also disposed of government-owned items in a landfill instead of transferring them to the supervisor-elect for District 2 when leaving office.
On Feb. 17, 2011, Pickering issued a demand letter to Crotts for the repayment of those funds totaling nearly $160,000 to Alcorn County taxpayers.
On Friday, Pickering said: “The special agents working on this case did an outstanding job investigating and holding Danny Crotts accountable for his actions…Our office works diligently on behalf of local governments and state agencies when dealing with bonding companies to ensure that the entity receives the maximum amount in cases where we have determined embezzlement or misuse of funds has occurred.”
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