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JACKSON, Miss. – Today State Auditor Shad White announced that Special Agents from his office have arrested Luther Russell, former Laurel Public Works Director, for allegedly using heavy equipment owned by the city of Laurel to conduct work on his personal property and for allegedly tampering with evidence relevant to this investigation by ordering employees to disable the GPS tracking device on a city-owned vehicle.
“Thank you to the agents in my office who did the hard work in uncovering this scheme,” said State Auditor Shad White. “We will continue to work closely with prosecutors to get record results for taxpayers.”
Russell allegedly instructed employees to load the City of Laurel Track Hoe on the City of Laurel Low-Boy trailer and transport them to his property where he then allegedly used them to conduct work on his personal property.
The road outside of Russell’s house was damaged by the heavy equipment when it was moved to his property. After being instructed by the county to repair the damaged roadway, Russell allegedly instructed his employees to disable the GPS tracking device on the vehicle to conceal the vehicle’s movement so it could be used to repair the damaged roadway.
Russell faces up to $8,000 in fines and 30 years in prison. All persons arrested by the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Suspected fraud can be reported to the Auditor’s office at any time by clicking the red button on the Auditor’s website or calling 1-(800) 321-1275 during normal business hours.
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