Ex-melrose band director indicted for misuse of funds
A former Memphis high school band director has been indicted after a state investigation found he collected student fees and kept the money for himself, the state announced Monday.
Jimmie Wilson, band director at Melrose High School until December 2018, was indicted in July by a Shelby County grand jury on one count of theft over $1,000 and one count of official misconduct, documents show.
This is the second time that Wilson has been indicted for misusing funds collected from students.
Investigators found that between September and October 2018, Wilson collected $1,175 in band fees from eight students and didn’t give the funds back to the high school.
The Melrose principal told investigators that band directors weren’t authorized to collect fees, documents show.
Additionally, Wilson scheduled a candy bar fundraiser without obtaining approval from the school.
The Melrose principal allowed Wilson to move forward with the fundraiser since the 1,500 candy bars had already arrived, according to the investigation.
Wilson made $100 from the fundraiser that he didn’t turn in to the school, investigators learned from interviews. Investigators weren’t able to find additional documentation from the fundraiser showing how much candy was sold.
In December 2018, a local news report said Wilson had previously worked as the cheer coach and band director at a Fayette County school and was indicted the month prior on charges related to misappropriation of student funds, documents show. Once Shelby County Schools learned of the investigation, Wilson was placed on administrative leave.
He resigned two days later on Dec. 6.
Wilson misrepresented his employment in Fayette County on his SCS job application, investigators found.
In November 2018, Wilson was indicted on one count of theft between $2,500 and $10,000, one count of official misconduct and one count of tampering with governmental records, documents show.
That investigation by the comptroller’s office showed that while Wilson was the cheer coach at Fayette-ware High School in Fayette County, Tennessee, he collected and improperly used at least $2,546.93 in student funds.
Wilson used his personal business to order uniforms and accessories, according to the investigation, and kept funds collected from the students with his personal funds.
Not all of the cheer students received the merchandise they’d ordered, the investigation found.
In that investigation, Wilson is identified as “Jimmy Taylor Wilson,” a different spelling than the “Jimmie Wilson” identified in this year’s report into Wilson’s actions as an SCS band director.
“We can say for certain that it is the same person in both reports,” John Dunne, director of communications for the comptroller’s office, said via email Monday afternoon.