The former city clerk of Bay Springs was sentenced on Wednesday for the federal crimes of money laundering and making false statements on a federal tax return, officials announced. Randy James, 56, pleaded guilty on Oct. 7, 2020, before Senior U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett, officials said. 

James was sentenced to serve 50 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $265,561 to the Office of the Mississippi State Auditor on behalf of the City of Bay Springs, as well as $95,000 in restitution to the IRS and $60,000 in restitution to RLI Surety, which was the bonding surety company for the city of Bay Springs.

James was also ordered to pay $30,200 in fines and special assessments.

According to a news release, James worked as the Bay Springs city clerk in 2017 and 2018, and had control over certain financial aspects of the city.

During this time, James embezzled just over $300,000 from the city by creating fraudulent invoices from fictitious companies for the costs of false services that were never approved or incurred by the city.

James diverted city funds by obtaining checks from the city, cashing the checks at a local bank, and wiring those funds overseas to international scammers in the hope of winning money in a lottery scheme.

James also made false statements on his personal 2018 Federal Income Tax Return by under-reporting gross receipts by $193,331.

The State Auditor’s Office previously issued a demand letter to James for $325,562 which included the amount of his embezzlement, plus interest and investigative costs. In his publicly filed plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, James agreed to pay a total of $420,562 in restitution.

The case was investigated by the Mississippi State Auditor’s Office and Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stan Harris.