A former city councilman in Izard County has been sentenced to probation as part of a negotiated plea deal after he stole over $30,000 in city funds. Josh Daniel Jackson of Horseshoe Bend, who is now 40 and formerly served on the Horseshoe Bend City Council, agreed to plead guilty to the charges of forgery, fraudulent use of a credit or debit card and theft of property greater than $25,000. He was sentenced to six years of probation and given credit for one day of jail time already served.
Sixteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Tim Weaver also ordered Jackson to pay the Horseshoe Bend Municipal Recreation Improvement District (MRID) $30,112 in restitution within 30 days.
Jackson was arrested after the Public Integrity Unit of the Arkansas Attorney’s Office conducted an investigation into expenditures by the MRID where Jackson was the superintendent and office manager. The MRID is responsible for the city’s golf course, swimming pool, lakes and other properties.
The MRID allowed Jackson to run his own business, Turkey Mountain Essentials, inside the golf course pro shop.
As part of the investigation, records showed several cash advances made on the credit card in addition to numerous questionable small charges. The charges were made on weekend and at locations which were not consistent for MRID business. Jackson was reportedly the only person with access to the card.
Bank records indicated there were multiple checking accounts for MRID, with checks requiring two MRID board commissioner signatures. Investigators determined 16 checks were written to Turkey Mountain Essentials totaling $30,112 and were signed by two of the three individuals who were board members at the time.
During questioning, the board members said they did not give Jackson permission to sign their names on the checks or to take cash advances on the MRID credit card. It was also learned during questioning, a total of 87 checks had been forged.
Jackson acknowledged he was not on the signature card for the MRID checking accounts and he did write checks on the accounts at times. Jackson told authorities he was given permission by two of the commissioners to sign checks. He denied getting cash advances for personal use, but did admit to forging 16 checks to himself or his business.
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