After originally facing up to five years in prison, an embattled former Mississippi sheriff will only spend one day behind bars after lying to the FBI about an illicit relationship with an inmate.
Terry Grassaree, the former sheriff of Noxubee County, was sentenced on Wednesday by District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to a $2,500 fine, six months of home detention, and one day in prison. The 61-year-old is guilty of lying to federal agents in July 2020 when questioned about requesting and receiving nude photos or videos from a female inmate in the Noxubee County Jail while serving as the rural county’s top law enforcement officer.
“Power corrupts,” Jordan said when sentencing Grassaree. “And few people have more power than a county sheriff.”
Grassaree used his position to solicit and accept nude photos and videos from the inmate in exchange for favorable treatment. He would provide her with benefits at the jail that other inmates did not receive, or did not receive as often, such as the use of a contraband cell phone and tobacco. She was also made a trustee and given a job cooking in the jail.
On March 5, 2019, Grassaree used a social media platform to request a video from the inmate. On that same day, he received multiple nude images via the platform and responded in a flirtatious and complimentary manner.
During the 2020 interview with the FBI, Grassaree lied about receiving the photographs as he tried to throw off the federal investigation into not only him but how inmates were treated at the Noxubee County Jail.
Grassaree was indicted by a federal grand jury on Oct. 5, 2022. One of his former deputies, Vance Phillips, also pleaded guilty to having sex with a jailed woman in exchange for a cell phone. Phillips was sentenced by Jordan to one day in prison, a $2,500 fine, and eight months’ home detention.
Aside from the present case, Grassaree has been accused of raping women and using his platform to beat people unlawfully without any retribution. At least eight others who have worked for him have also been accused of sexual crimes involving inmates.
