Hughes indicted on 87 additional charges

Former Lawrence County Commissioner Jeffrey Hughes, who was indicted on a total of one hundred thirty-six charges in April regarding thefts from local volunteer fire departments, has now been indicated on eighty-seven additional counts.

District Attorney Brent Cooper reports that a Lawrence County Grand Jury has returned additional indictments against Hughes charging him with eighty-seven counts of money laundering. These charges are related to more than $40,000 worth of Walmart gift cards Hughes allegedly purchased fraudulently.

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office reported in April that Hughes was accused of stealing a total of $256,066 from Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department and Lawrence County Fire and Rescue, which is an umbrella organization through which funds are received, then distributed as appropriated to thirteen fire departments within the county. The crimes allegedly occurred during a 5 ½ year period between May of 2009 and November of 2015. Hughes had served as treasurer for both organizations.

The Comptroller’s office reported that Hughes obtained the majority of the stolen funds by writing “more than eighty checks to ‘cash’ and cashing them for his personal benefit. He also wrote more than eighty fire and rescue checks to Walmart to purchase gift cards.”

All of the charges resulted from a joint investigation undertaken through the District Attorney’s office and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. Hughes was initially indicted on one count of theft over $250,000, one count of theft over $10,000, and one hundred thirty-six counts of forgery.

The money laundering charges are punishable by imprisonment of between eight and twelve years apiece. Hughes is scheduled to stand for arraignment on the new indictments in Lawrence County Circuit Court on Monday, October 3, 2016.