Jason Ezell, 40, of Lebanon, Tenn., was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Kevin H. Sharp, to serve six months in prison and one year supervised release, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Ezell, a former sergeant with the Mount Juliet Police Department, pleaded guilty on July23, 2015, to federal program fraud and wire fraud. The Court also ordered him to pay more than $13,000 in restitution.

Ezell was charged on July 10, 2015, with fraudulently preparing time cards and submitting fraudulent overtime logs, falsely claiming that he worked more than 500 hours of overtime in support of and assisting in federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigations during the period of January 2013 through April 2015. During that time, Ezell was a sergeant with the Mount Juliet Police Department and supervised the Crime Suppression Unit.

In sentencing Ezell, Chief Judge Sharp noted that “there was an abuse of trust of the position the people placed him in to be a good steward of the public’s money.” Judge Sharp also said the sentence “needs to reflect the seriousness of the offense and send a message that you can’t dip into the public till and receive probation if you’re caught.”

This case was investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; the FBI; the District Attorney’s Office for the 19th Judicial District; and the DOJ Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Jaworski is prosecuting the case.