CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Tenn. — Facing a 15-count indictment that portrayed him as a corrupt officeholder, former Claiborne County Sheriff David Ray pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon in a deal that allows him to serve four years of supervised probation.
The former judge, TBI agent and highway patrolman admitted to two felony counts of attempting to skirt paying sales taxes on two Ford trucks.
Ray, who just turned 74, offered no statement during the hearing in the county's New Tazewell justice center.
Judge Rex Henry Ogle accepted the plea to the two low-level felonies, which will be served back to back for a total four-year term. The Sevier County judge heard the case after the Claiborne County judge recused himself.
"I feel like this is a pretty just agreement," Ogle said.
The hearing lasted about 15 minutes.
The TBI worked years on the investigation, focusing on Ray’s time from 2015-18 in office. The statewide agency issued a rare objection Wednesday afternoon to the plea.
It alleged, among other things, that he used jail inmates to work on his personal vehicles and sometimes charged Claiborne County for the parts to make them run.
In essence, the TBI alleged in court records, he used his office for personal gain over multiple years.
The agency said its investigation also showed he used inmate labor to rebuild his house after a 2014 tornado and to build a swimming pool.
He circulated with inmates and let them drive county vehicles, the investigation found. He employed convicted felons in his department, the TBI found.
Indicted on seven counts of official misconduct, Ray admitted Wednesday to none of that.
The two counts he pleaded to addressed his purchase of Ford trucks, an F150 and an F250. After buying both, in 2014 and 2015, he registered them in his grandson's name and declared he'd acquired them as "an even trade," prosecutor Bryant Dunaway said. He paid no sales tax.
"We feel like this is not a perfect scenario but it is a just resolution to this case, looking at the whole scenario," said Dunaway, of Cumberland County, who assumed the case after local prosecutors recused themselves.
The other counts that dropped away Wednesday addressed forgery and use of inmates for personal gain.
Ray is to pay $901.80 in restitution, lead defense attorney Jeff Daniel said.
Daniel said Ray committed the felonies while acting as a private citizen.
"His role as sheriff had nothing to do with the fact the sales tax was avoided," Daniel told Ogle.
After the hearing, Dunaway acknowledged TBI representatives didn't agree with the resolution.
Responding to the plea, TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart told 10News: "In spite of today’s developments, we are proud of the many years of work our special agents invested in this case. We have respectfully shared with District Attorney General Dunaway our opinion that this plea deal does not adequately address the crimes committed while holding an office that demands such high public trust."
Daniel of Knoxville said his client was ready to enjoy retirement and move on from the case. He said Ray had served the public for decades.
Co-counsel Richard Gaines said the defense thought they had a strong case to present if needed at trial. They thought Ray would have been a good candidate for diversion, which would have spared him from having a criminal record.
Former Sheriff's Department employees Larry Allen Roberts and Larry Lee Martin were indicted in 2018 along with Ray.
Roberts was indicted on two counts of official misconduct by a Claiborne County grand jury. He pleaded guilty in July 2019 to one count and received two years of unsupervised probation.
Martin had been indicted with being a felon in possession of a handgun. In September 2019, he received two years of supervised probation and judicial diversion