Former housing director sentenced for spending funds on personal items Posted: Friday, April 20, 2012 5:00 pm
The former executive director of the Ripley Housing Authority has been sentenced in an embezzlement and tax evasion scheme that allegedly included unauthorized payment to a Union City business.
David Royce Ford, 35, of Ripley was sentenced Thursday by Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla in Memphis to serve 24 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
The judge also ordered Ford to pay restitution of $43,990 to the Internal Revenue Service and $158,794.81 to the Ripley Housing Authority, according to Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
Ford pled guilty Jan. 12 to charges of embezzlement, money laundering and tax evasion.
He began working for the Ripley Housing Authority as executive director Jan. 4, 2009.
In his capacity as executive director, Ford allegedly made unauthorized purchases and withdrawals from the checking account of the Ripley Housing Authority for his personal use, including two cashier’s check payments on Feb. 26, 2010, to Abernathy’s Motorcycle Sales and North Star in the amounts of $11,500 and $7,927, respectively. Ford also allegedly used an unauthorized cashier’s check drawn on the housing authority’s account to purchase a 2009 Ford F150 pickup truck for $33,800 on Feb. 5, 2010.
The total loss to the housing authority is about $216,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Additionally, Ford allegedly failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service about $50,000 in additional taxable income for calendar year 2009 that he received as a result of the embezzlement, resulting in a tax loss of about $10,490 for that year.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, special agent Greg Newberry of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General and special agent Shari Paige of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin L. Bailey on behalf of the government. Published in The Messenger 4.20.12 , | 
