Former Columbus chief financial officer Milton Rawle has passed away in prison.
Rawle, 52, passed away at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl Saturday, according to Rankin County Deputy Coroner Cliff Dunlap.
Rawle worked as the city CFO between 2013 and 2019. He was arrested by the state auditor’s office in August 2020 for embezzling about $290,000 from the city of Columbus between 2016 and 2018.
Dunlap said he was called to the correctional facility about 3 p.m. Saturday, and that Rawle was pronounced dead on the scene.
Dunlap declined to comment on the circumstances of his death, citing an ongoing investigation, but did say that foul play was not suspected.
The body was sent to the state medical examiner’s office for autopsy, Dunlap said.
Mississippi Department of Corrections Communications Division Director Leo Honeycutt did not return a Dispatch call for comment by press time.
Rawle is believed to have made unauthorized transfers from the city’s bank accounts, and covered his tracks by labeling those transactions as “payroll” or “reimbursement.” He also used clip art to alter the city’s bank statements.
Discrepancies were uncovered during a Fiscal Year 2018 city audit by Watkins, Ward and Stafford, and were then brought to the attention of the auditor’s office.
Rawle had resigned in February 2019 after serving a 16-work-day suspension for failing to alert council members to a steep city deficit — the city operated at a more than $800,000 deficit in FY 2017 and FY 2018.
In February 2021 Rawle pled guilty to embezzlement, and Circuit Judge Lee Coleman sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Coleman said at the time it was the worst case of embezzlement he had seen in his time on the bench.
Because embezzlement is a non-violent offense, Rawle would have been eligible for parole after serving five years.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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