Missouri sheriff accused of lying to FBI, witness tampering

ST. LOUIS -- A northeast Missouri sheriff twice accused of illegally hunting deer was freed on bond Thursday after his federal court appearance on charges he lied to an FBI agent and tampered with a witness in a sexual-misconduct investigation.

An indictment Tuesday accused one-time trucker Douglas Jones, 37, of one felony count of making a false statement and two felony counts of witness tampering. After appearing before a federal magistrate here Thursday, Clark County's sheriff was freed on a $25,000 bond.

Jones faces up to five years in prison on the false-statement charge and 10 years behind bars on each of the witness-tampering counts, if convicted. Each charge also carries up to $250,000 in fines.

The indictment alleges that on Oct. 13, 2001, Jones lied to an FBI agent investigating Jones' possible inappropriate sexual activity with a prisoner.

Between June 10 and July 11 of this year, the indictment alleges, Jones tried to press a witness not to testify against him before grand jurors.

Few specifics

The indictment did not give specifics of the alleged sexual misconduct. But the Quincy (Ill.) Herald-Whig has reported that Jones has been under investigation by the FBI and Missouri State Highway Patrol over his allegedly inappropriate involvement with a female inmate he was transporting to Clark County from a St. Louis-area hospital in October 2001.

Jones was elected Clark County's sheriff in November 2000, after beating the incumbent by six votes in the Democratic primary and rolling to victory in the general election.

Jones had no law enforcement experience, having spent much of his adult life driving tanker trucks and doing factory work, his wife Donna Jones said.