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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The Latest on a Mississippi sheriff being arrested (all times local):
4:20 p.m.
A charging document says a northern Mississippi sheriff was stealing guns and drugs, seeking sex with inmates and threatening employees if they told anyone about the crimes.
Webster County Sheriff Timothy Mitchell was arrested Wednesday at his Eupora home and is jailed awaiting a Thursday court appearance. District Attorney Doug Evans says he knows of no lawyer representing Mitchell.
A sworn statement accuses Webster of crimes beginning in November 2017, when he's accused of illegally buying pills from an informant.
Beginning this spring, Mitchell is accused of seeking sex with two women in his jail. He's also accused of ordering a deputy to remove four guns from evidence and conveying at least some to an employee and an inmate. Mitchell also provided that inmate with illegal drugs and a cellphone, charges say, while ordering the deputy to remove drugs from evidence.
Charges say Mitchell threatened then-Chief Deputy Jeffrey Mann and two other employees if they told anyone.
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10 a.m.
A northern Mississippi sheriff has been arrested on a dozen felony charges, including embezzlement and evidence tampering, just weeks after saying he would resign in January because of health reasons.
The Mississippi Bureau of Investigation says in a news release Wednesday that 53-year-old Webster County Sheriff Timothy Seth Mitchell, of Eupora, has been arrested and was awaiting a court appearance.
It was not immediately clear whether Mitchell is represented by an attorney.
The second-term sheriff is charged with two counts each of embezzlement, trafficking in stolen firearms and furnishing an inmate with weapons and other contraband. He is also charged with one count each of attempting sex with an inmate, tampering with evidence and permitting sale of a controlled substance in jail; and three counts of retaliation against a witness.
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