Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold and two others were indicted by a grand jury Friday morning following an ongoing investigation.
News 2 was there when Arnold arrived to the courthouse around 8 a.m.
He now faces 14 indictments including one count of conspiracy, three counts of money property fraud, four counts of honest services fraud, two counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, one count of extortion under color of official right and one count of attempt to tamper with a witness by corrupt persuasion.
Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Chief Deputy Joe Russell and Arnold’s uncle John Vanderveer were also named in the indictments.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will host a press conference at 11 a.m. at the courthouse to “announce developments in a significant public corruption matter.”
Arnold has been the focus of an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for over a year since April 2015.
About a month later, the sheriff’s office and home were raided by both the Tennessee and federal bureaus of investigation.
PHOTOS: TBI, FBI raid sheriff’s office, 3 homes
While the TBI has yet to say exactly what they were looking into, the investigation happened around the same time the sheriff was found to be a benefactor of e-cigarettes sold at the Rutherford County jail.
The JailCigs company is owned by his aunt and uncle in Georgia, and his wife was a part-time employee when the facts came to light.
At the time, Sheriff Arnold told News 2 he errantly filled out the form that lists his sources of income, and the cigarette company is in fact not a source of income. He noted if any money made from the company ended up in his bank account, it was “pretty much” because his wife worked there.
CONSPIRACY: (continue reading at WKRN)