Bonds were set for two Heidelberg men accused of an alleged insurance fraud scheme in a case that has been investigated and presented by the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
Elbert Benton, 31, the band director at Heidelberg High School, and Dezmond Cooley, 30, a security officer for the East Jasper School District and a former Heidelberg police officer, appeared before Circuit Judge Stanley Sorey for a bond hearing last Thursday morning at the Jasper County Courthouse in Bay Springs. Both men were initially taken into custody by the Jasper County Sheriff’s Department last Tuesday at the East Jasper School District Central Office. Benton is charged with one count of insurance fraud and one count of conspiracy. Cooley is charged with one count of conspiracy and one count of alteration of record.
The multi-count indictment against the two men was presented last Monday to a Jasper County Grand Jury by the AG’s Office during the First Judicial District of Jasper County February 2019 Grand Jury Session held at the Courthouse in Paulding.
According to the AG’s Office, Cooley allegedly created and altered a false Uniform Crash Report to assist the driver, Benton, in receiving insurance benefits after the crash. The indictment states that the accident happened on January 19, 2018, when Benton was not insured. Cooley allegedly altered the report to falsely reflect that the crash happened on February 11, 2018, after Benton obtained insurance coverage on the vehicle involved in the crash.
Judge Sorey set bond for both men at $20,000. A trial date was set for July 24, 2019, at the Jasper County Courthouse in Paulding. If convicted, Benton faces up to eight years behind bars, and Cooley faces up to 15 years in prison. Both Benton and Cooley have been released from the Jasper County Jail on bond.
The case was investigated by Justin Harris and will be prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Brad Oberhousen, both with the AG’s Insurance Integrity Enforcement Bureau.