JACKSON, Miss. –Roderick Nicholson, Former Mayor of Terry, was sentenced to serve 40 years in custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with 10 to serve. He was also ordered to pay restitution and court costs in the amount of $7,629.12.

Nicholson pled guilty to five counts of embezzlement November 23, 2015, and has been in custody of the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department.

From January 2011 through December 2012, the Mayor used the Town of Terry’s credit card to make unauthorized personal purchases and submitted false bills to be repaid by the Town of Terry.
“It is a good day for the Town of Terry knowing their tax dollars aren’t being spent on the former mayor’s personal bills,” said State Auditor Stacey Pickering. “I’d like to thank the Attorney General’s Office for working jointly on pursuing this investigation.”

Mayor Nicholson was arrested by agents from the State Auditor’s Office and investigators with the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division in March on a Rankin County Grand Jury indictment.

“The duties of public office demand absolute integrity,” said Attorney General Hood. “We appreciate Judge Chapman’s sentence ordering full restitution and time behind bars. We also appreciate the cooperation between our office and the Department of Audit which led to this successful prosecution.”

The case was jointly investigated by the Auditor’s Office and the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division, and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Stanley Alexander and Special Assistant Attorney General Marvin Sanders of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity Division.