Ex-Mississippi Coast circuit clerk arrested on 5 new embezzlement charges, records show
Former Stone County Circuit Clerk Jeffrey O’Neal is in trouble again for embezzling public funds.
A Stone County grand jury has indicted O’Neal, 64, on five more counts of embezzlement of public funds and one count of making fraudulent statements.
The indictment was handed down on Sept. 26. The Mississippi State Auditor’s office has investigated the case.
O’Neal is now facing nine counts of embezzlement of public funds and one count of making fraudulent statements while serving as county circuit clerk for the Wiggins area. The charges are spelled out in two different indictments.
In the days leading up to the new indictment, O’Neal’s attorney, Donald Rafferty, filed court papers asking a judge to quash two of the charges in the 2021 indictment.
In the paperwork, the attorney argued that two charges should be quashed or dismissed because the allegations are too vague and fail to cite exactly what O’Neal is accused of in those instances.
Rafferty said the charges are part of a superseding indictment that “redefines one charge and adds another.”
Either way, Rafferty said, “We just look forward to our day in court.”
O’Neal has denied wrongdoing.
The crimes, which occurred in a three-year period ending in 2018, involved the alleged theft of electronic payments made at the Clerk’s Office, restitution payments for crime victims, election-related fees, and other money.
O’Neal is also accused of submitting fraudulent fee statements and invoices to the Stone County Board of Supervisors over the same period.
O’Neal has been jailed in Stone County since October, when he violated the conditions of his bond on the previous charges after he missed a court appearance and used other tactics to delay his trial.
The Sun Herald caught up with O’Neal at his job when he missed the October court date. O’Neal blamed depression and anxiety for missing his court appearance.
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.
O’Neal failed to turn in financial reports during the alleged embezzlement, and another judge later found him in civil contempt.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell is prosecuting the case.
O’Neal is scheduled to go to trial in November.
This story was originally published September 26, 2023 at 4:14 PM.
