News

Mayor Davis charged with embezzlement by a public official

Submitted by Nick Kenney, Reporter

Wednesday, December 19th, 2012, 3:48pm

SOUTHAVEN, MS- (WMC-TV) – Southaven Mayor Greg Davis bonded out of the DeSoto County Jail Tuesday afternoon after being charged with two counts of embezzlement by a public official and one count of false pretenses.

Davis was indicted by a grand jury in DeSoto County.

"This investigation is ongoing. It is not by any stretch of the imagination finished," said DeSoto County District Attorney John Champion. "This is just the beginning of what I for see to be a long process of fishing up the investigations and then taking things to various courts and grand juries for decisions."

According to the indictment, one of the embezzlement charges stems from Davis purchasing a vehicle leased by the City of Southaven without proper "authority to conduct the transaction".

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Southaven Mayor Greg Davis out of jail on bond but a no-show at Board of Aldermen Meeting

Submitted by Janice Broach, Reporter

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012, 10:25pm

SOUTHAVEN, MS- (WMC-TV) - Southaven Mayor Greg Davis was driving his car, Tuesday when he got a call from his attorney that he had been indicted on three felony counts. Davis turned himself in and was released on a $3,500.

"He was surprised it came down," Davis's attorney, Steve Farese said. "There was no inkling there would be a state a state indictment."

Davis was indicted by a Desoto County Grand jury on three felony counts. He is charged with two counts of embezzlement involving the use of the city pumps to fill up his personal car and purchasing a Ford expedition the city had been leasing for him at a reduced rate. The indictment said Davis purchased the car without the aldermen's permission.

The third count involves Davis requesting a check for one thousand dollars that was used for personal expenses. Davis' Attorney, Steve Farese said he will plead not guilty.

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Alderman, residents react to Southaven mayor's arrest

Submitted by Michael Clark on Tuesday, December 18th, 7:19 pm

SOUTHAVEN, MS- (WMC-TV) – Southaven residents are speaking up after learning their mayor was arrested Tuesday.

Some were surprised to hear Southaven Mayor Greg Davis went to jail, but others say it is about time.

"I think it puts a really bad light on Southaven and the surrounding area, he needs to get out of there," said Southaven resident Janice Cummins.

The mayor has been the focus of state and federal investigations for more than one year, accused of misspending taxpayer money.

Southaven Alderman Ronnie Hale says Davis would not be able to hold office if he is convicted.

"By state law he is still the sitting mayor, we can't remove him from office, we don't have that availability, there's no law that says we can remove him from office," said Hale.

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Southaven mayor's timeline of past troubles

Submitted by Kym Clark on Tuesday, December 18th, 5:15 pm

SOUTHAVEN, MS- (WMC-TV) – Southaven Mayor Greg Davis' troubles first surfaced just over one year ago, after a Mississippi auditor accused him of spending city money for personal use, pointing a receipt from a Toronto sex shop.

Shortly thereafter, it came out that the former "family man" was gay.

Southaven residents told Action News 5 they did not care about his sexuality, but instead, how their taxpayer dollars were being spent.

A state and federal investigation into Davis' spending of city money showed that thousands of follars was spent on food, liquor, and out-of-town trips.

The Mississippi auditor ordered Davis pay back nearly $170,000.

Alderman, many of whom signed off on the mayor's spending, became tight-lipped.

Suddenly, Davis was gone, leaving little information about where he went and when he would return.

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Hernando mayor says town's economy is picking up

Submitted by WMCTV Web Staff

Monday, December 17th, 2012, 11:51am

Good signs for the economy in one North Mississippi town.

Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson said all indicators are pointing to an economic turnaround.

In his state-of-the-city address earlier this week, the mayor said housing starts, new subdivisions and sales tax collections all are pointing up.

According to the Commercial Appeal single-Family building permits are up significantly this year.

Sales taxes showed an increase of about four percent.

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Girl Scouts send care boxes to soldiers

Submitted by Michael Clark on Monday, December 17th, 10:10 am

DeSoto County soldiers will have some extra care this holiday thanks to some area Girl Scouts from Olive Branch.

The girls sent 125 Christmas Care boxes to deployed service men and women from DeSoto County.

Olive Branch Girl Scout Junior Troop 10528 started collecting items at Olive Branch Intermediate School.

After a contest, the students in Ms. Montgomery’s class raised more than 200 items to send off to the soldiers.

Family and friends also contributed to the efforts with donations.

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