Ex-MS Coast school security chief still owes thousands in embezzled funds
A law enforcement officer who was the Biloxi School District’s campus security chief for a decade returned to court this week to give an update on how much he still owes for embezzling $169,865 from another organization.
Paul Gordon Cannette stole the money from the Mississippi Association of School Resource Officers over three years ending in November 2016. He was serving as president of the state non-profit group at the time.
He stole the money during 600 different personal transactions and later pleaded guilty to the felony offense.
In August 2018, a judge sentenced Cannette to 10 years in prison, suspending 5 1/2 years and leaving 4 1/2 years to serve. However, Cannette served a little over a year before his release in early September 2019.
Cannette was accompanied by his attorney, Steve Simpson, when he went before Judge Randi Mueller this week.
Simpson told the judge his client had been making the court-ordered monthly payments of $200 a month, and in February, he had voluntarily increased his monthly payment to $250.
According to Mueller, Cannette has paid a total of $18,733.50, leaving a balance of $152,865.
Cannette, Simpson said, planned to make another $250 payment after his court appearance Monday.
Since his release, Canette has gone to work in ground maintenance at Shell Landing in Gautier, Simpson said.
Cannette had been a patrol officer and a criminal investigator for Biloxi police before he took the campus security job.
He was elected as MASRO’s president on June 4, 2012, and became the sole officer of the organization.
The group receives money from members’ annual dues and from a Mississippi Community-Oriented Policing Services grant.
