A former police chief turned convicted felon has pled guilty to federal money laundering charges.Fifty-six-year-old Jimmy Bohannan, Jr., of Midway, has admitted that during most of 2023, he was involved with several people in the area in a drug trafficking/money laundering organization.
The others group members were 48-year-old Joseph Bermingham of Cotter, 30-year-old Levy McGee of Yellville, 40-year-old Anna Atchley of Harrison and 32-year-old Allen Thompson listed as a resident of Oklahoma. A second Oklahoma resident, 28-year-old Cheyenne River Wininger, also faces federal charges stemming from the group’s illegal activities.
A change of plea hearing for Wininger, who lives in Kingston, Oklahoma, is set for September 4 in Fayetteville.
KTLO, Classic Hits and the Boot News ran a story beginning Wednesday updating the federal court cases that were opened on Bermingham, McGee, Atchley and Thompson.
COP TURNED CROOK
Bohannan, who has admitted he was involved with the drug trafficking group, had enforced the law for 16 years before he started breaking those same laws.
At the time things began to unravel for Bohannan, he was police chief in the small Mississippi County town of Keiser that had a population of 750 in 2020.
He was eventually caught and faced a number of theft charges and a single drug charge.
In one of the theft cases, Bohannan broke into a house and took a number of items.
He knew the residents would be away because they had called him in his capacity as chief of police and asked him to keep an eye on their home while they were out of town taking their daughter to a Memphis hospital.
Bohannan was teamed with another lawman, the drug enforcement officer with the Mississippi County Sheriff’s office, in carrying out the burglaries.
Ironically, it was Bohannan who did the initial investigation on the burglary that eventually landed him in jail.
RELOCATED TO MH AREA
At some point, Bohannan moved to the Mountain Home area. He was first arrested here in 2017 when he fled from officers with the Mountain Home Police Department (MHPD) after being pulled over on 8th Street. According to the probable cause affidavit, Bohannan eventually ran into a residence along Foster Street. The owner was outside when officers got to the scene and told police Bohannan may have gone into the house.
The owner went into the home to check and when officers entered the residence the owner was holding Bohannan at gunpoint in a bedroom closet. Bohannan is alleged to have ask the man to shoot him. He is also reported to have struck a MHPD officer in the face and forehead several times and to have elbowed him in the eye. There were other run-ins with the law prior to his becoming involved in the drug trafficking/money laundering group.
LARGE METH BUY
According to Federal Court records, on July 14 last year, two members of the group – Atchley and Thompson – arranged for Thompson to sell $10,000 worth of methamphetamine to the locally based organization. The drug was intended for resale in this area.
An advance was requested by Thompson and Bohannan was tasked with wiring $2,500 to Thompson from the Harrison Walmart store.
He was reported to have arrived at the store just before 9 p.m. on July 15, 2023, and wired the money.
According to Federal Court documents, Bohannan “knew the funds had been derived from drug trafficking.” He also acknowledged “the purpose of him wiring the funds was to conceal or disguise the nature, source, ownership or control of the funds.”
When members of the group have had run-ins with police, they have been well armed. During a traffic stop in Harrison in mid-September last year, Thompson is alleged to have had a Brigade AR-15 style pistol, two .380-caliber handguns and a Canik 9 millimeter pistol that were all seized.
COULD FACE 20 YEARS
Bohannan is said to have agreed “that the United States could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had aided and abetted Anna Atchley and Levy McGee by conducting money laundering activities on their behalf.”
He could face a maximum of 20 years in prison that would be followed by up to three years of supervised release after leaving prison.
No sentencing date for Bohannan is listed in Federal Court records.
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