AG: Jonestown Mayor Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Attorney General Lynn Fitch announced Jonestown Mayor Kenneth Lester entered a guilty plea Friday in Coahoma County Circuit Court on four counts of embezzlement for converting various public funds for his own use.

“Public officials are entrusted to be good stewards of taxpayer money,” General Fitch said. “My office will always protect the citizens of Mississippi from those that take advantage of their positions of public trust.”

In his plea, Lester, 46, admitted he embezzled a firearm from the Jonestown Police Department and converted it to his own use. Judge Charles E. Webster sentenced Lester to two years in Mississippi Department of Corrections custody suspended, two years probation, $777 in restitution to the City of Jonestown, a $500 fine, and other court costs. Lester was also required to resign by 5 pm yesterday.

This case was investigated by Investigator Clint Hatch of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity unit and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Brad Oberhousen.

Press Release

7/14/2020