TBI: Former Gibson Co. sheriff Chuck Arnold, 11 employees indicted

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Former Gibson County sheriff Chuck Arnold and 11 others involved in his administration have been indicted on numerous counts as a result of a TBI investigation.

Arnold turned himself in Monday afternoon at the Gibson County jail along with former chief deputy Jeff Maitland and Arnold’s former executive assistant Darla Crenshaw.

Renea Terrell, a nurse practitioner who contracted with the sheriff’s department, also has been indicted along with eight other former employees, according to a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation release.

The TBI release said the district attorney requested the investigation after a report that items were missing from the sheriff’s department when Sheriff Paul Thomas took office in September 2014.

Arnold lost his bid for re-election in August 2014 after serving two terms.

An audit revealed discrepancies between July 2013 and September 2014 in areas including employee pay compensation, drug fund accounting and distribution of prescriptions made out in inmates’ names, according to the release.

TBI agents found that Arnold and Maitland allowed employees to be paid for regular and/or overtime hours they did not work, the release states.

Agents also developed information that Arnold, Maitland and Terrell were involved in writing and filling prescriptions for controlled substances in the names of inmates who never received the medication.

Also indicted as a result of the investigation are Eddie Bradford, Joel Hughey, Melissa Hunt, Benjamin Lee, Shaun Phinnessee, Charles Simpson, Robert Pinkerton and Teresa Sturdivant, according to the release.

The investigation further revealed that Arnold removed money from the drug fund for his personal use and forged documents using another individual’s name, according to the release.

The release also outlines the counts on which Arnold and his former employees have been indicted.

Arnold has been indicted on 113 counts including four counts of theft over $10,000, 55 counts of official misconduct, nine counts of theft over $1,000, one count of forgery, one count of theft of $500 or more, one count of attempted theft of $1,000 or more, two counts of attempted theft of $10,000 or more, one count of conspiracy to obtain controlled substance by fraud and 39 counts of obtaining controlled substance by fraud, according to the TBI release. Arnold’s bond is set at $10,000.

Maitland has been indicted on 86 counts including one count of attempted theft of $10,000 or more, 42 counts of official misconduct, one count of conspiracy to obtain controlled substances by fraud, 39 counts of obtaining controlled substances by fraud, one count of theft of $1,000 or more and two counts of theft of $10,000 or more, the release states. Maitland’s bond is set at $5,000.

Terrell, has been indicted on 81 counts including one count of conspiracy to obtain controlled substance by fraud, 39 counts of obtaining controlled substance by fraud, 39 counts of official misconduct, two counts theft $1,000 or more. Terrell’s bond is set at $2,500.

To see the full TBI release including all the counts listed in the indictments, visit the “Seen on 7” section of our website.