Sixteenth Circuit District Attorney Scott Colom has waited years to tell the backstory of how his office helped “root out the corruption and illegal behavior at Noxubee County Sheriff’s Office.”
During a Thursday press conference in Lowndes County Courthouse, he told that story in detail. He also urged federal authorities to fully prosecute the perpetrators.
“If our federal authorities fully prosecute the case the way it should be prosecuted, it will send a strong message,” Colom said.
Terry Grassaree, 61, who served as Noxubee County sheriff for eight years until January 2020, pleaded guilty Tuesday to lying to FBI agents about whether he requested and received nude photos and videos from a female jail inmate in March 2019 in exchange for special privileges.
He faces up to five years in prison, and his sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 7.
However, Colom said his office turned over evidence to the FBI in 2019 indicating “at least four or five deputies” at the sheriff’s office had sex with this inmate in exchange for contraband and illegal favors. The investigation also uncovered evidence of other illegal activities in the sheriff’s office unrelated to sex, and Colom’s office turned that over to the FBI “with the agreement” the case would be prosecuted.
To date, one of Grassaree’s deputies, Vance Phillips, has pleaded guilty to using facilities in interstate commerce for the purpose of committing bribery. He, too, faces up to five years in prison upon conviction.
No other charges have come forward, and Colom said Tuesday the statute of limitations deadline is nearing.
“We’re hopeful that federal authorities will honor their agreement,” Colom said. “… I hope this isn’t the end of it.”
When contacted by The Dispatch on Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson with U.S. Attorney Todd Gee’s office emailed a statement in response to Colom’s concerns.
“The Department of Justice follows the facts, law, and principles of federal prosecution when determining how to proceed in an investigation and what charges, if any, can be filed,” the statement read. “Federal agents and prosecutors will continue working hard every day to hold public officials in Mississippi, like Sheriff Grassaree, accountable for corrupt use of their office and efforts to mislead investigators.”
Gee serves the Southern District of Mississippi, of which Noxubee County is a part.
How Grassaree was caught
Colom’s team was preparing in 2019 to try a murder that occurred four years prior when a Noxubee County citizen anonymously tipped his office that sheriff’s deputies were sexually assaulting female inmates.
One of those inmates was charged as an accessory before the fact in the murder case.
Meanwhile some statements given in the murder case were “hard to explain” with the evidence, prompting prosecutors to interview the inmate.
“During that interview, she was very emotional about some of the treatment she had received at Noxubee County Jail and very skeptical about whether she could trust authorities,” Colom said Tuesday.
Eventually, Colom said, the inmate told prosecutors several deputies had engaged in sex with her, giving her special privileges in return, and that she had expressed to the deputies she was uncomfortable with the arrangement.
The DA’s office took the allegations seriously and contacted the FBI, which asked for the DA’s assistance in corroborating the story.
At that point, Colom’s investigators, led then by Maurice Johnson, posed as the inmate and messaged deputies on Facebook. One message to a deputy indicated the inmate was pregnant. The deputy’s response to that message, and his response to what he thought was the inmate’s request to meet, produced corroborating evidence of the sexual activity, Colom said.
Investigators then confronted the deputy, he said.
More digging unearthed evidence related to other deputies having sex with the inmate.
The investigation also revealed Grassaree had been told what his deputies were doing. That, Colom said, led to the messages between Grassaree and the inmate that were also turned over to the FBI.
“Instead of rooting out that, instead of referring that to the proper authorities, … what Sheriff Grassaree did was get on Facebook and try to get in on the action,” Colom said. “… When we really dug into this, what we really kept hearing was this was considered normal. This wasn’t even considered wrong. (With) people with that much power thinking this type of illegal activity isn’t wrong, just on a moral level, who knows what those type of people are capable of?”
Colom turned the case over to federal authorities because their jurisdiction allowed a jury to be gathered from across the Southern District of Mississippi. A state case would have required a jury from Noxubee County, a tough task in such a small county when the case involves public officials as defendants.
He hopes a successful prosecution will help the county’s citizens better trust the justice system and put officials in power on notice.
“If you’ve spent any time in Noxubee County, then you know there is a lot of skepticism from … citizens about law enforcement,” Colom said “… For each serious crime I get, family members, community members (voice) concern about whether something corrupt is going on. … So when you actually do have corruption, it has to be aggressively handled.
“Second, we’ve got to protect particularly female inmates when they are in custody,” he added. “They are vulnerable for sexual exploitation, sexual assaults, and when that happens we have to send a clear message that’s something we’re not going to tolerate. … This doesn’t need to be a slap on the wrist.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
