Calhoun County Supervisor Arrested on Extortion Charges

OXFORD, Miss.- Felicia C. Adams, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi and Donald Alway, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi announce that:

            Ernest McKinnley Fox, 66, a Calhoun County, Mississippi Supervisor, was arrested today on charges of extortion under color of official right, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951.

            Fox appeared before U. S. Magistrate Judge S. Allan Alexander and was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond.  His arraignment is scheduled for Monday, December 21 at 2 p.m. in Oxford, Mississippi.

            If convicted Fox faces maximum possible penalties of twenty years imprisonment, a $250,000, fine, and 5 years supervised release.

            The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt and that each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.