Bond revoked for ex-MS Coast circuit clerk accused of embezzlement. Here’s why.

A special judge Monday revoked the bond of former Stone County Circuit Clerk Jeffrey O’Neal because he failed to meet with attorneys to prepare his defense or show up at pre-trial hearings.

Special Judge Richard McKenzie issued the ruling after hearing from O’Neal — dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit — appeal to the judge to consider allowing him to bond out of the Stone County jail pending trial on felony embezzlement charges.

His attorney, Damian Holcomb, said he spoke to O’Neal after his arrest for failure to appear in court in October just one month prior to his scheduled trial

Holcomb said his client apologized and said he was scared and would not let that happen again.

O’Neal apologized for his actions.

“I have been for several years, and my doctors can verify, suffering from depression,’’ O’Neal said in court Monday. “I went to Pine Grove (Behavioral Health) after I got arrested and stayed for over a month.”

O’Neal said the day he missed court in October, he was at work at Star Chevrolet and trying to make money for his family.

He claimed he didn’t realize he had court that day, though he also admitted his failure to stay in touch with his attorney, pick up documentation, or attend meetings with him for his defense at trial.

Trying to ‘avoid reality’ in embezzlement case

O’Neal, as Holcomb pointed out and O’Neal verified, has been “scared’ since his arrest.

“He was just avoiding the reality, so to speak, and he was scared,” Holcomb explained.

In his plea to be released pending trial, O’Neal said he had been married to his wife for 43 years, has five children and six grandchildren, and he and his extended family have lived in Stone County for decades.

Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell pointed out at the hearing in October that the ex-clerk’s attorney told the judge he wouldn’t meet them to pick up items he needed to prepare for his trial. O’Neal missed that court date, which resulted in his arrest.

In addition, Burrell cited a Sun Herald report at the time of his arrest in October, during which O’Neal eventually admitted it was his fault he missed the earlier hearing.

In a Sun Herald interview, O’Neal said it was likely his fault he had ended up in the situation in October, placing blame again on depression and adding that he didn’t follow through with things like meeting with his attorney.

“But, I’m not running or hiding from nobody,” he said in the October interview. “If I were trying to run, I wouldn’t be sitting here trying to make a living.”

In the October interview, O’Neal admitted that he had called his attorney’s office regarding his case just before being handcuffed for missing court.

“Then, I called and didn’t go,” he said in October. “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.”

In addition, Burrell said the state has already had to delay the trial because of O’Neal’s actions, including missing meetings with his own attorney.

The judge took just seconds to issue his ruling, revoking O’Neal’s bond pending trial, now tentatively set for the May court term.

Before serving as Stone County Circuit Clerk, O’Neal had served nearly three full terms as Stone County Justice Court judge.

Theft of 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, the charging documents say that O’Neal, as the clerk, took in election-related payments to the clerk’s office and converted the money to his own use.

Prior issues before indictment

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.

For three years ending in 2018, O’Neal failed to turn in financial reports, and another judge later found him in civil contempt.

If convicted of all charges in the public corruption case, O’Neal could go to prison for up to 70 years.

This story was originally published February 27, 2023 at 1:18 PM.