Former West Virginia Parole Officer Pleads Guilty to Witness Tampering

A former Regional Director of Parole Services for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation in Parkersburg, West Virginia, pleaded guilty today in federal court in the Southern District of West Virginia to witness tampering.

According to court documents, David Jones admitted that earlier this year, he deliberately withheld information and lied to state and federal investigators during their investigations of sexual misconduct reportedly committed by a parole officer supervised by Jones. Jones also admitted that, on multiple occasions from 2020 to this year, he repeatedly instructed a witness in the same investigation to lie to federal investigators and to destroy and withhold evidence. Specifically, Jones admitted that he encouraged the witness to delete recordings she had of the parole officer and that he instructed the witness to delete evidence of his own communications with her.

Jones faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. A sentencing date has been set for Jan. 19, 2023.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney William S. Thompson for the Southern District of West Virginia made the announcement. 

The FBI Pittsburgh Field Division investigated the case. Trial Attorneys Kathryn E. Gilbert and Nikhil Ramnaney of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Criminal Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica Coleman for the Southern District of West Virginia are prosecuting the case.