HINDS COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – After nearly two hours of deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict.

That verdict was guilty.

Twelve jurors found former acting Hinds County Sheriff Marshand Crisler guilty of accepting $9,500 in bribes in exchange for providing ammunition to a convicted felon.

These murders occurred while Crisler served as the county’s law enforcement officer.

As he headed inside his car, Crisler didn’t have much to say after learning he was found guilty, referring all comments to his attorney, John Colette.

“Extremely upset, obviously, as anyone would be,” said Colette, who represents Crisler.

The jury found Crisler guilty of both charges brought against him in the case.

One count of taking bribes in exchange for favors and one count of supplying ammunition to a convicted known criminal.

That convicted felon is Tonarri Moore, who is currently in the Madison County Jail on a federal conspiracy charge.

Moore was one of the witnesses brought by prosecutors to testify during this trial.

While on the stand, Moore testified that he agreed to work with the FBI to get a lighter sentence after investigators found guns and drugs in his home during a raid in September 2021.

Moore said investigators became interested in Crisler after going through his phone and seeing where the two men had previously talked about exchanging money.

According to Moore, Crisler accepted $9,500 in payments in exchange for various favors, including a promise to hire him at the Hinds County Penal Farm and move his cousin from a non-secure facility to the medical ward at the Raymond Detention Center.

Prosecutors also said Crisler gave Moore 14 rounds of ammunition and offered to have his record expunged.

During the trial, prosecutors played audio and video recordings of the two men exchanging money and talking about these favors.

“How he did it shows why he did it,” said Charles Kirkham, one of the U.S. attorneys in the case.

In court, Colette denied claims that Crisler made promises to Moore.

Colette points out that Moore never filled out a job application to work at the prison and that Crisler only moved Moore’s cousin to the medical ward because he needed medical attention, not for safety reasons.

Crisler took the stand on Day 3 of the trial.

He insisted he didn’t know Moore was a convicted felon while this investigation was ongoing, and also claimed the money he gave Moore was strictly a campaign donation.

The money was for Crisler’s 2021 campaign to run for sheriff, a race he lost in a runoff.

During her closing argument, Colette told the jury to consider whether Crisler was a victim of entrapment.

Then an agency influences someone to commit a crime that they otherwise would not have committed.

Colette believes that’s exactly what happened in this case.

“This corruption was created by the FBI,” Colette said.

However, Kirkham responded by saying that bribery does not require actions to be fully performed.

He explained to the jury that the mere fact that Crisler agreed to these favors while acting sheriff proved that he was ready and willing to commit these crimes. “He used his badge as bargaining chip,” Kirkham said. “Promise to pay, promise of special treatment.”

Now that he has been found guilty, Crisler faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

Despite not being filled in on a campaign finance report, Colette continues to stress that his client took the money strictly as a campaign donation that came with no strings attached.

He also said he believes his client is not guilty.

“We are very disappointed with the verdict,” Colette said. “Marshand maintains his innocence. He never sold his job, but we have to respect the jury’s verdict at this point and we will certainly consider our appeal in the future.”

Crisler will remain on bond until his sentencing date, which is set for February 6.

Click on these links to see the full recap of this week’s trial:

Want more WLBT news in your inbox? email? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.

See a spelling or grammar mistake in our story? Please click here to report it and include the story title in your email.

Copyright 2024 WLBT. All rights reserved.