According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), a Lewis County Sheriff’s Department (LCSD) deputy has been arrested for theft and money laundering related to the purchase of a police K9.
“On September 13, at the request of 32nd Judicial District Attorney General Hans Schwendimann, TBI special agents began investigating a complaint of theft against Lewis County Deputy Brandon Grady,” TBI said in a release.
“The investigation revealed that in the fall of 2020, Grady was the president of a youth football and cheer organization,” according to that release. “During the course of the investigation, agents learned that in October that year, Grady used money the board approved for the purchase of an equipment shed to instead spend the money on a police K9 that he purchased for himself at a time when he was an active deputy.”
On December 13, a grand jury indicted Grady (pictured above) on one count of theft and one count of money laundering. Two days later, he turned himself in. He was released from jail on a $5,000 bond.
The TBI release is unclear on whether Grady purchased the police K9 to use on the job, or strictly for himself.
Susan Niland, a spokeswoman for TBI, told The Tennessee Star Wednesday that TBI could not elaborate further due to the ongoing nature of the legal matter.
TBI would also not comment on the status of the K9, and whether it is currently in the custody of law enforcement, Grady, or a third party.
Niland directed The Star to the LCSD, which did not return a comment request.
It is not immediately clear if Grady has retained legal counsel.
In September, a TBI investigation led to the arrest of a former Mt. Juliet police officer Franklin Deriggi.
Deriggi is alleged to have “misused criminal justice data for unauthorized purposes,” and was charged with 16 counts of official misconduct. He was booked into the Wilson County Jail and later released on $3,500 bond.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
