The mayor of Brooksville and the city clerk have been arrested for allegedly embezzling taxpayer funds, announced by the state auditor’s office on Friday.
Mayor Earlie Henley was taken into custody for allegedly drafting checks made out to himself without the signature of a second signer. Henley also allegedly took cash withdrawal slips to the bank to withdraw and pocketed cash from the city’s accounts.
The Brooksville city clerk, Shaquita Malone, was also arrested. She is accused of entering herself into the payroll system as an hourly employee rather than a salaried employee as hired and then increasing her hourly rate to receive funds she was not entitled to. Agents with the state auditor’s office also discovered Malone is a convicted felon and under state law cannot be employed as a city clerk.
“We will continue to hold public officials who break the public’s trust accountable at every level,” State Auditor Shad White said in a press release. “Thank you to the prosecutors who took our investigation and to the men and women of the Auditor’s Office for their tireless work.”
White’s office did not disclose how much Henley and Malone allegedly stole but did say if convicted, each will face up to $5,000 in fines and up to 20 years in prison.
Brooksville is located in Noxubee County and has a population of 799, according to 2020 Census data.
