PRESS RELEASE

CONTACT: Lisa H. Shoemaker (601) 576-2645 or (601) 613-8518
Laney Grantham (601) 576-2641

DATE: June 21, 2011


State Auditor Returns $50,000 to Town of Brooksville

(Jackson, Miss.) - State Auditor Stacey Pickering presented a check for $50,000 to Mayor Tammie Holmes, Town of Brooksville, today during a press conference in Brooksville. The State Auditor’s Office’s investigation discovered that Alvina Deloach embezzled $60, 873 from the Town of Brooksville in Noxubee County. Deloach pled guilty to embezzlement and was sentenced to two years of house arrest in March 2009.

Deloach served as the deputy town clerk in Brooksville from September 1998 to June 2001 and served as the town clerk from June 2001 to June 2005. She was terminated from the position in June 2005 by the Brooksville Board of Alderman.

“Our investigative team did an outstanding job investigating this case and holding Alvina Deloach responsible for her actions,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “The $50,000 presented to Mayor Holmes today is the amount we were able to recover from Deloach’s bond, and I am pleased to be bringing it back to the Town of Brooksville. Since taking office, we have been successful in recovering and returning over $4.2 million to local governments across the state. That is a victory for our state, and we continue to work diligently on behalf of the taxpayers in Noxubee County and across Mississippi to ensure that we recover the funds embezzled from the local coffers.”

Elected as Mississippi’s State Auditor in 2007, Stacey Pickering has recovered more than $4.2 million in embezzled, misspent or misappropriated funds. He is a seventh generation Mississippian from Jones County. Auditor Pickering currently serves on the Domestic Working Group for the Office of the Comptroller General of the United States. He also serves on the Financial Management and Intergovernmental Affairs and Performance Audit Committees for the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers and Treasurers and is a member of the National State Auditors Association. Prior to serving as State Auditor, Pickering served as a State Senator from 2004-2007 representing Jones County and is credited for co-authorizing legislation allowing Mississippi to end lawsuit abuse. Throughout his political career, Pickering has made tremendous strides in creating more accountability and transparency in government and continues to promote fiscal responsibility and the need for more efficiency and productivity in government. For more information on Stacey Pickering, visit www.osa.state.ms.us/auditors-bio.htm.
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