Ex-Mississippi Coast cop fired in embezzlement cases now faces criminal charges
A former Mississippi Coast law enforcement officer, who admitted he embezzled from one Coast police department before allegedly committing the same crime at a second agency, is now facing criminal prosecution.
A Jackson County grand jury has indicted Eric Eugene Maye, 28, of Jackson County, on two counts of felony embezzlement by a public servant. The crime carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison and up to $5,000 in fines.
Maye’s attorney, Cameron McCormick, waived his arraignment and entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf. Maye is tentatively set to go to trial in October.
The state Auditor’s Office investigated the crimes.
According to the charging documents, Maye is accused of embezzling funds from the Gautier Police Department from March to August 2017.
Gautier officials fired Maye when the allegations surfaced and ordered him to repay the city the amount stolen years earlier. The city did not pursue criminal charges at the time.
The second charge accuses Maye of stealing an unspecified amount of money from someone he came into contact with through his position as a Moss Point Police officer on Feb. 26, 2022, in Jackson County.
Moss Point Police Chief Brandon Ashley said at the time of Maye’s firing in Moss Point in 2022 that Maye had allegedly stolen money from a drug suspect in Moss Point.
Losing his police credentials
Maye lost his credentials to serve in law enforcement in Mississippi after Gautier city officials learned of his alleged embezzlement there. During that internal investigation, Maye admitted to the crimes, but the city did not pursue formal charges against him.
Once the Guatier theft surfaced in March 2019, the Mississippi Board on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Training voted to decertify Maye’s law enforcement credentials, which is required to serve in law enforcement in Mississippi.
In the Gautier case, Maye admitted using his city-issued Fuelman card to make “16 unlawful purchases of fuel” at nine different stores in different areas in Gautier, Ocean Springs, D’Iberville and Biloxi for his private vehicles, according to records obtained by the Sun Herald.
Video cameras at stores captured footage of Maye making at least three illegal transactions for fuel for his personally-owned Dodge Charger.
Maye agreed to repay the city over $600 for the gasoline stolen from the city.
Though Maye initially wasn’t prosecuted for that offense, the criminal investigation resulted in the latest criminal charges because there is no statute of limitations for prosecuting embezzlement cases involving public corruption.
State certification reinstated
By the time the state de-certified Maye in 2019, he was back at work as a police officer in Moss Point.
Maye went back before the BLEOST and pleaded unsuccessfully to get his police credentials back. When the Board refused to reinstate his license in 2019, he had to step down.
In November 2021, Chief Ashley went before the state board and pleaded for them to recertify Maye as a police officer. At that hearing, the chief told the BLEOST that Maye had put “all of his problems behind him” and successfully argued for the Board to reinstate his credentials.
Maye was back on the job as a police officer in Moss Point iin December 2021.
Just three months later, Maye was accused of embezzlement there.
The state Auditor’s Office issued a formal demand for Maye to pay the state $1,433.
This story was originally published August 10, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
