Image Credit: shelbycountytn.gov & Google Earth
Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
A Shelby County Commissioner pleaded guilty on Monday to five counts of federal tax evasion and will be resigning from office.
According to a 2025 indictment, Edmund Ford, Jr. (D-District 9) allegedly secured grant money between March 2020 and May 2023 for three non-profit organizations in exchange for a cut of those funds, using his position as a Shelby County Commissioner to do so. He was also allegedly given payment for the purchase of laptops.
The indictment states: “From 2016 to 2018, when Ford Jr. served as the Budget Chair for the Memphis City Council, grants were awarded to nonprofit organizations through an application process. E&J Computer Services and Repair was a business operated by Ford Jr. and other members of his family. E&J Computer Services and Repair deposited over $250,000 in its bank account from various nonprofits from 2017 to 2021. Each of these nonprofits received Memphis City Council and/or Shelby County Commission community grants while Ford Jr. served in office.”
Ford turned himself in to federal authorities in February 2025.
Although Ford was present at County Commission meetings in 2025, part of his plea agreement includes resignation from his position.
Ford agreed “to immediately resign from, relinquish, and forfeit his publicly elected office upon this plea of guilty, and further acknowledges that this plea of guilty constitutes a conviction for infamous crimes that will forever disqualify him from qualifying for, seeking, or holding any public office in the State of Tennessee or any political subdivision of the State of Tennessee.”
He is set to be sentenced on June 12, 2026. He is facing a maximum sentence of five years, along with a maximum fine of $250,000, for each charge.
Ford was also facing one charge of bribery and a sixth count of tax evasion, but those charges will be dropped at his sentencing hearing, according to the plea agreement.
Sources:
https://www.actionnews5.com/2026/02/02/edmund-ford-jr-pleads-guilty-tax-evasion
