Newly sworn-in Shelby County Commissioner Will Richardson II has been arrested on tax falsification charges, court records show.
According to the Shelby County criminal justice portal, Richardson was indicted
on two counts of falsifying state revenue tax records, a Class E felony.
He was indicted for the charges on Aug. 25, and a warrant for his arrest was issued on Sept. 8, according to court records. He was booked on Sept. 9, and given a $40,000 bail.
As of publishing this article, records did not show Richardson having posted that bail.
Details about the charges facing Richardson were not readily available at the time of publication, though court records indicate the alleged crimes happened in December 2020.
Richardson is the second actively-serving member of the Shelby County Commission to be charged with a crime since the most recent cycle of elections ended. About a month ago, Commissioner Erika Sugarmon was charged with vandalism for allegedly stealing campaign signs.
Richardson, a Democrat, assumed his role as Shelby County Commissioner for District 8 last week, replacing now-county Mayor Mickell Lowery.
Richardson is also the vice chair of the Shelby County Democratic Party, owns Fat Charlie's Speakeasy in Harbortown, WR Community Services LLC., and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Newly-elected Shelby County commissioner arrested for falsifying taxes
