Columbia, Tennessee Man Ordered Detained By U.S. Magistrate In Sacramento, California

Tad Cummins, 50, of Columbia, Tenn., appeared before a U.S. Magistrate in Sacramento, California today and was ordered to be held in custody, pending his subsequent transfer to the Middle District of Tennessee, to await trial on the charge of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual activity, announced Jack Smith, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Cummins was charged in a criminal complaint on April 20, 2017, after being located in Cecilville, Calif. with the 15 year-old female victim. As alleged in the complaint, Cummins and the 15-year old had been the subject of a nationwide search by law enforcement, after leaving the Columbia, Tenn. area on March 13, 2017.

Cummins was arrested by FBI agents on Friday, April 21, 2017, while in the custody of the Siskiyou County, Calif. Sheriff. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kendall J. Newman this afternoon for a detention hearing. Magistrate Judge Newman ordered that he be transferred to the Middle District of Tennessee as soon as possible for further proceedings.

If convicted, Cummins faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, up to life.

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Phil Wehby and Sara Beth Myers of the Middle District of Tennessee and Jason Hitt of the Eastern District of California.

The charges brought by this complaint are merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.