Retired Mississippi sheriff faces evidence tampering charge
Source: Associated Press
Jeff Amy, Associated Press
Updated 5:51 pm, Wednesday, October 25, 2017
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) A retired Mississippi sheriff's deputy faces a federal evidence tampering charge, accused of planting a wooden baton next to the body of a man he shot to death in 2013.
The one-count indictment against former Bolivar County Deputy Walter Grant of Cleveland was unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Greenville.
Grant, 51, pleaded not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jane Virden in a five-minute arraignment and is free on $10,000 bail. His lawyer didn't immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press, but has previously denied that Grant did anything wrong.
The indictment says Grant planted the baton after shooting 20-year-old Willie Bingham Jr., accusing him of trying to make it appear that Bingham had been armed. Grant faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Grant, like Bingham, is black.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Retired-Mississippi-sheriff-faces-evidence-12306442.php