Ex-MS Circuit Clerk arrested again after defying court orders in public corruption case
Former Stone County Circuit Clerk Jeffrey O’Neal was arrested at his job Friday after he failed to go to court for a pretrial hearing in his corruption case involving the theft of public money.
O’Neal, 63, is awaiting trial on three counts of embezzlement by a public employee and one count of embezzlement. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell is prosecuting the case.
O’Neal had been out of jail on a total bond of $40,000 since a grand jury indicted him in September on the felony charges.
O’Neal’s attorney, Damien Holcomb, had filed court papers in October asking for a delay in the trial, currently set for Nov. 14.
In the request, Holcomb said he had called O’Neal on various occasions to get him to come to the law firm to discuss the case, pick up evidence and other records, and prepare his defense for trial but had been unable to get O’Neal to do so.
Special Judge Richard McKenzie scheduled a hearing Friday to discuss the matter, including the lack of cooperation from O’Neal with his attorney, and to decide whether to push the trial to another date.
Holcomb didn’t attend Friday’s hearing because he was out of town, but another attorney who works with him, Joshua Johnson, went to court to represent him.
The attorneys said O’Neal knew he was supposed to be in court for the hearing.
When O’Neal didn’t show, the judge issued the warrant that essentially forfeited his bond unless he and his bonding company could explain why the judgment should be set aside before trial.
A new hearing on the matter will be set at a later date, Circuit Clerk Treba Davis said. O’Neal will remain jailed in Stone County pending any further action.
‘Not running or hiding?’
The Sun Herald caught up with O’Neal before his being picked up Friday morning. He was sitting on a bench outside Star Chevrolet, where he works, and said he didn’t know he had to be in court Friday.
“If I had known, I would have been there,” he said. “I hadn’t received anything from the clerk’s office or anything from the bonding company or anything saying I had court this morning.”
O’Neal later admitted it was likely his fault he had ended up in the situation, partly because he’s suffering from depression and he didn’t follow through with things like meeting with his attorney.
“But, I’m not running or hiding from nobody,” he said. “If I were trying to run, I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to make a living.”
O’Neal also admitted, before being handcuffed, that he had called his attorney’s office regarding his case.
“Then, I called and didn’t go,” he said. “I had some appointments with people for work, and that (meeting with his attorney) should have been more important than selling cars and making a living.”
Stone County sheriff’s deputies showed up while the Sun Herald was talking to O’Neal and took him into custody.
Before serving as Stone County Circuit Clerk, O’Neal had served nearly three full terms as Stone County Justice Court judge.
Stealing public money
In the public corruption case, O’Neal is accused between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018, of using an unspecified amount of public money he collected as a clerk for his own use.
As part of those allegations, O’Neal is accused between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 13, 2018, of embezzling restitution payments offenders made to the clerk’s office and then spending the money on personal expenses.
In other instances between Nov. 1, 2017, and Dec. 31, 2018, O’Neal, as the clerk, took in election-related payments to the clerk’s office and converted the money to his own use, the charging documents say.
Prior target of scrutiny
O’Neal first came under scrutiny in 2019 after he failed to file annual financial reports that state law mandates from Chancery and Circuit clerks.
The clerk receives some of their pay from fees their offices generate, but to receive the money, they must show in their financial reports the income and expenses for each year to justify the fees paid to them.
In 2016, 2017 and 2018, O’Neal failed to turn in financial reports.
Circuit Judge Christopher Schmidt later found O’Neal in civil contempt when he failed to file his annual reports despite court orders to do so.
If convicted of all charges in the public corruption case, O’Neal could go to prison for up to 70 years.
