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

That verdict was guilty.

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

These crimes occurred while Crisler was serving as the county’s top law enforcement officer.

As he got into his car, Crisler didn’t have much to say after finding out he was found guilty and referred 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 in this case.

One count of accepting bribes in exchange for favors and one count of providing ammunition to a known convicted felon.

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

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

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

Moore said investigators approached Crisler after checking 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 several favors, including a promise to hire him at the Hinds County Penal Farm and relocate his cousin from an unsafe unit to the medical wing of the Raymond Detention Center.

Prosecutors also stated that Crisler gave Moore 14 rounds of ammunition and offered to clear his record.

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

“The way he did it shows why he did it,” said Charles Kirkham, one of the federal prosecutors in the case.

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

Colette points out the fact that Moore never filled out a job application to work at the jail 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 to testify on day 3 of the trial.

He insisted that he did not know Moore was a convicted felon while this investigation was underway, and also maintained that the money Moore gave him was strictly a campaign donation.

The money was earmarked 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.

This is when an agency influences someone to commit a crime they would not otherwise have committed.

Colette believes that is exactly what happened in this case.

“All of this corruption was organized by the FBI,” Colette said.

However, Kirkham responded by saying that bribery does not require the actions to be carried out in their entirety.

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

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

Even though it was not completed in a campaign finance report, Colette continues to emphasize that her 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 work, but we must respect the jury’s verdict at this time and will certainly look at our appeal in the future.”

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

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