• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




TBI has press conference today on fraudulent liens, arrests in East Tennessee

Posted at 1:18 pm February 16, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will have a press conference this afternoon (Thursday, February 16) to discuss an investigation into fraudulent liens and arrests made in East Tennessee.

It’s not clear how many arrests were made or where, and who was arrested. But WYSH Radio in Clinton reported that local, state, and federal law enforcement officers assisted the TBI in arresting a suspect in South Clinton on Wednesday.

Oak Ridge Today received a report that the TBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation were both at the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Wednesday during the trial for Lee Harold Cromwell. Cromwell is a 67-year-old Oak Ridge man convicted Wednesday in Anderson County Criminal Court of vehicular homicide and aggravated assault for a fatal parking lot crash at the Midtown Community Center after fireworks in Oak Ridge on July 4, 2015. It has been alleged, including in court hearings, that Cromwell is a sovereign citizen, or someone who might not recognize certain government authorities, although neither he nor his defense attorney have acknowledged in court hearings that he is.

Officials haven’t confirmed whether the investigation into fraudulent liens by the TBI includes the $137 million in liens filed by Cromwell against local law enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, or Social Security, but they did announce after his convictions on Wednesday that Cromwell had been indicted in Davidson County, where the TBI is based. Cromwell’s bail was revoked, and he was immediately taken into custody.

Advertisement

Some charges against Cromwell involved forgery, officials said Wednesday. Some were Class A felonies, the most serious in Tennessee, while others were Class E felonies, officials said.

Some of the liens filed by Cromwell have been terminated. Those filed against local law enforcement officers and agencies were all filed after the fatal crash on July 4, 2015. Anderson County Circuit and Criminal Court Judge Don Elledge, named in several liens, recused himself from the case because of the liens, and he vowed to do everything he could legally, morally, and ethically to prosecute Cromwell “criminally and civilly to the full extent of the law.”

In July, Elledge said he had already discussed the liens filed against him by Cromwell with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a federal task force, the Seventh District Attorney General’s Office (the Anderson County DA), and local legislators.

A judge warned Cromwell last summer that filing a fraudulent lien is a Class E felony in Tennessee. It’s not clear if filing a larger lien, of $4 million or $8 million, as Cromwell has, might increase the severity of the charges.

On Wednesday, the TBI said the indictments that will apparently be discussed Thursday afternoon are sealed. The press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. Central time Thursday, February 16, at TBI Headquarters in Nashville. Among those scheduled to speak are TBI Director Mark Gwyn, TBI Deputy Director Jason Locke, Assistant Commissioner Tennessee Safety and Homeland Security Rick Shipkowski, and 20th District Attorney General Glenn Funk.

Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough told WYSH Radio in Clinton that the Clinton Police Department was one of several agencies that assisted the TBI in serving an arrest warrant on a person at a home on Beechwood Road in South Clinton on Wednesday morning. It’s not clear if that arrest was part of the TBI investigation into fraudulent liens.

Advertisement

After the wanted individual was taken into custody without incident, authorities believed that a second wanted individual might be on foot in the area near Beechwood and Portwood Roads, and the CPD issued a Code Red alert for individuals in that area advising them to stay indoors while the search continued, the radio station reported.

Officials at South Clinton Elementary School, acting out of an abundance of caution, locked the exterior doors and kept students inside for recess. Scarbrough said Thursday morning that at no time were students ever in any danger, and that the school was never placed on lockdown.

The second suspect was not located in South Clinton, but was apprehended Wednesday afternoon in the Powell area, WYSH Radio said. The Code Red alert was lifted for the affected area at around 5:30 p.m.

In addition to units from the CPD and Tennessee Highway Patrol—whose contingent included a helicopter—officers from the TBI, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI were said to have been on the scene.

The names of the people arrested, and the charges against them were not immediately available.

Local authorities referred questions to the TBI, which led the operation.

At least three THP vehicles were parked in a parking lot near the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton on Wednesday, along with units from the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Some information in this report came from WYSH Radio in Clinton, an Oak Ridge Today news partner.


Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Anderson County, Anderson County, Clinton, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Knox County, Oak Ridge, Oliver Springs, Police and Fire, Roane County, State, Tennessee, U.S. Tagged With: Anderson County Courthouse, Anderson County Sheriff's Department, Clinton Police Department, Code Red, Federal Bureau of Investigation, fraudulent liens, Jason Locke, Lee Cromwell, Lee Harold Cromwell, liens, Mark Gwyn, Rick Scarbrough, South Clinton Elementary School, TBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol, WYSH Radio

Advertisements

 

Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Most of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require at least four hours to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

More Government News

Tower rebuilding complete, South Illinois re-opened overnight

The replacement of a large high-voltage transmission tower was completed Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, and South Illinois Avenue re-opened to traffic at about midnight. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority) The … [Read More...]

South Illinois Avenue to re-open by midnight

South Illinois Avenue is expected to re-open by midnight Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, near the University of Tennessee Arboretum after being closed for more than two days because of a large high-voltage transmission tower that … [Read More...]

AC Democratic Women to hear about income inequality Monday

Millicent Taylor, an adjunct professor at Pellissippi State Community College, will discuss income inequality as the guest speaker at the Monday, January 25, meeting of the Anderson County Democratic Women’s … [Read More...]

Photos: TVA transmission tower repair

Crews replace the Tennessee Valley Authority's high-voltage steel lattice transmission tower knocked over in a crash at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. (Photo courtesy City of Oak … [Read More...]

South Illinois could re-open Monday

Crews repair the damage to the Tennessee Valley Authority distribution system after a pickup truck crashed into a high-voltage steel lattice transmission tower, causing widespread power outages in Oak Ridge and the … [Read More...]

More Government

More Police and Fire News

Tower rebuilding complete, South Illinois re-opened overnight

The replacement of a large high-voltage transmission tower was completed Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, and South Illinois Avenue re-opened to traffic at about midnight. (Photo courtesy Tennessee Valley Authority) The … [Read More...]

South Illinois Avenue to re-open by midnight

South Illinois Avenue is expected to re-open by midnight Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, near the University of Tennessee Arboretum after being closed for more than two days because of a large high-voltage transmission tower that … [Read More...]

Photos: TVA transmission tower repair

Crews replace the Tennessee Valley Authority's high-voltage steel lattice transmission tower knocked over in a crash at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. (Photo courtesy City of Oak … [Read More...]

South Illinois could re-open Monday

Crews repair the damage to the Tennessee Valley Authority distribution system after a pickup truck crashed into a high-voltage steel lattice transmission tower, causing widespread power outages in Oak Ridge and the … [Read More...]

Crews repairing damage after crash knocks down power tower

Crews repair the damage to the Tennessee Valley Authority distribution system after a pickup truck crashed into a steel lattice transmission tower, causing widespread power outages in Oak Ridge and the surrounding area … [Read More...]

More Police and Fire

Recent Posts

  • NNSA has virtual job fair, including for Y-12
  • Tower rebuilding complete, South Illinois re-opened overnight
  • DOE photographer dies at 62
  • South Illinois Avenue to re-open by midnight
  • AC Democratic Women to hear about income inequality Monday
  • Photos: TVA transmission tower repair
  • South Illinois could re-open Monday
  • Crews repairing damage after crash knocks down power tower
  • Part of South Illinois Ave. remains closed
  • Power restored to Oak Ridge except for Arboretum

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today