The federal trial of former Hinds County interim sheriff and candidate Marshand Crisler began Wednesday with attorneys offering differing interpretations of whether evidence will show he sought and accepted bribes and gave ammunition to a convicted felon. 

Crisler, 54, has pleaded not guilty to two charges stemming from actions that happened between September and November 2021 when he ran for a full term as sheriff. 

“The defendant used his badge as a bargaining chip,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kirkham said in his opening statement. 

He argued that in exchange for $9,500, Crisler made promises to a man named Tonarri Moore, who Kirkham identified as the government‘s informant. 

Crisler allegedly made promises to inform Moore of any criminal investigations about him, to move a member of his family to a better place in the county jail, to give Moore a job with the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department and to give him the ability to possess a firearm despite a  felony conviction. 

Evidence from the FBI’s investigation are recorded phone conversations and in-person meetings between Crisler and Moore. Prior to trial, the recordings and transcripts were restricted from public access and the indictment and other court filings referred to a “Confidential Human Source 1.”

The government intends to call Moore as a witness. He is currently being held at the Madison County jail on a pending manslaughter charge. The recordings were made before Moore was detained. 

Crisler’s defense attorney, John Colette, said his client did not do any of the things asked of him in exchange for money. 

He asked the jury to consider timing and how the government is “cherry picking and not telling the whole story.” 

That timing includes the indictment, which came months before the 2023 Democratic primary when Crisler ran again for sheriff. He remained in the race and lost to incumbent Tyree Jones, who he previously faced in 2021. 

In court, Colette also raised questions about Moore’s credibility, saying he started cooperating with the FBI after a search of his home by the Drug Enforcement Agency. 

Colette told the jury how Moore and Crisler knew each other: Moore worked on Crisler’s 2019 campaign, and Moore has given donations to other political candidates. 

While Crisler may have considered the money exchanged to be campaign donations, he didn’t report them as such, the government argued. 

“Even if he did use that campaign money, it’s still a bribe because the defendant accepted that money as a quid pro quo in exchange for official acts,” Kirkham said. 

Crisler is also charged with giving 14 9mm bullets to Moore., Prosecutors say who Crisler knew Moore was previously convicted and not allowed to possess ammunition or weapons because of his felony conviction. 

But Colette said his client didn’t know until later that Moore hadwas a felony convictionconvicionted felon. Additionally, he said it is not against the law in Mississippi for a formerly convicted person to possess ammunition. 

Each charge has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. 

The first witness called was Daniel Ratliff, a Mississippi Gaming Commission investigator who was part of the investigation of Crisler when he was a member of an FBI task force. His role was to recruit Moore as an informant and oversee meetings between Crisler and Moore, and recordings of those meetings. 

During Ratliff’s testimony, the jury heard over a dozen recordings that are portions of recordings of the meetings between Crisler and Moore. 

“The reason is I’m the sheriff,” Crisler said in one of the recordings played during the government’s opening statement and during Ratliff’s testimony.

“They’re going to let me do things they don’t let anybody else do,” he said. 

During cross examination, Colette asked a range of questions, including how reliable the recordings are and whether the FBI knew about Moore’s prior convictions before trying to recruit him.

“You wanted to get him to come snitch for you … you didn’t want him to be an agent,” Colette said to Ratliff. 

Trial is expected to last three days and is before Senior U.S. District Court Judge Tom Lee. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The University of Mississippi posted its second consecutive record-breaking enrollment this fall, according to figures released Monday by the governing board of the state‘s eight public universities. 

The state’s flagship university in Oxford now enrolls more than 27,000 students, an 11% increase over last year’s headcount. This propulsive growth is fueled by the largest-ever freshmen class in state history, high retention rates, and an increasing number of out-of-state students. 

“Our growth reflects the University of Mississippi’s position as a thriving destination of choice for higher education,” Chancellor Glenn Boyce said in a press release.

Through a spokesperson, the university declined to answer questions about the more than 2,400 new students, including how many are first-time freshmen, transfer students, or from out of state.

“While overall enrollment has been announced, demographic-level data is still being reviewed by the IHL with final approval expected next month,” Jacob Batte, the director of news and media relations, wrote in an email.

Not to be outdone, Mississippi State University also celebrated an all-time-high in enrollment of more than 23,000 students. The land-grant university enrolled more minority, international and veteran students this year than last, according to a press release that also noted it is the state’s only institution of higher learning to experience enrollment growth for nine of the last 10 years. 

“We’re focused on higher education at MSU being unequivocally accessible and are dedicated to ensuring every Bulldog student is on their path to a degree, including those who start at a community college or who have been out of college for a while,” President Mark Keenum said in the release. 

Rounding out the state’s three largest universities, the University of Southern Mississippi’s enrollment held just about steady at 13,170 students, gaining half a percentage point over the previous school year. 

As higher education officials wait for the enrollment cliff, Mississippi’s three top-tier research universities are scooping up an increasing share of students who pursue higher education in the state. This means the five other, less-resourced universities are competing for a declining pool of students and tuition dollars. 

Earlier this year, lawmakers asked the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees about recommendations and strategies to help the state’s eight public universities weather the anticipated drop in enrollment. In the Southern U.S., Mississippi is expected to see the second-worse decline in high school graduates by 2027 after Virginia. 

Following the hearing, one lawmaker introduced a bill to close three universities that ultimately died in the Senate Colleges and Universities Committee. 

Overall, nearly 80,000 students are attending public universities in Mississippi, according to IHL’s figures. 

“Our universities offer a strong foundation for students from across the state and beyond, and these numbers reinforce the confidence of students and parents alike in the quality education available throughout our system,” Al Rankins, the IHL commissioner, said in a press release. “We are grateful to the Mississippi Legislature and Governor Reeves for partnering with us in keeping our universities affordable for Mississippi families.”

Most universities in the state gained enrollment. Mississippi Valley State University and Alcorn State University saw growth this semester. 

But Mississippi University for Women, Jackson State University and Delta State University’s enrollment dropped. 

Despite a 1.5% decline to 2,193 students this semester, the W welcomed its largest freshman class in four years, which the president credited to recent efforts to grow the enrollment, including increased advertising and marketing aimed at a larger pool of prospective students, more academic scholarships paired with an affordable tuition rate, and attendance at national college fairs. 

This semester, the W had 174 new freshmen, up 15 students from last year. 

“The growth in new freshmen is a testament to recent changes we have made in the recruitment process,” Nora Miller said in a press release. “We look forward to continuing that growth, while forging more pathways for community college transfer students to complete their baccalaureate degrees at The W.” 

Still, the enrollment cliff means it’s unclear the growth in the freshmen class will translate to more overall students in the coming years. A university spokesperson noted the drop in the number of college-going high school graduates will be challenging for the W. 

“The coming change in the high school graduate population/demographics will be a challenge for every higher education institution in Mississippi, but especially for regional universities like The W,” Tyler Wheat wrote in an email. 

Wheat added the university is looking to connect with students, especially those who might transfer from a community college. 

“Our goal is an enrollment that is healthy and sustainable for our institution,” he wrote. 

At Delta State, where enrollment woes recently led to major budget cuts, the president, Daniel Ennis, anticipated a drop in the number of students after 21 programs were cut. 

IHL’s numbers show that Delta State lost 62 students for a total of 2,654 students this semester, but the university says that is mostly not related to the program cuts. 

“Based on our preliminary numbers, the majority of the fall 2024 headcount reduction is related to non-degree-seeking part-time students, such as dual-enrollment high school students, post-baccalaureate students, and other non-degree-seeking students who occasionally take a course,” Christy Riddle, a spokesperson, wrote in an email. 

The university’s first-time freshmen class increased to 210 students this semester, which is three more than last year. Excluding dual credit students, the number of students enrolled full-time at Delta State rose by nearly 5% this year, Riddle added. 

Jackson State lost 238 students, putting its fall enrollment at 6,326. 

The university did not respond to questions about what caused the decline and if it has a plan to increase enrollment.

“We’re working on an enrollment release that we intend to share with the public,” Rachel James-Terry, the director of public relations, wrote in an email.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

This Saturday’s Georgia-Ole Miss game will be the most important college game played on Mississippi soil since, well, at least since 2014 when Mississippi State and Ole Miss were ranked as highly as No. 1 and No. 3.

Alabama was ranked No. 3 and Ole Miss No. 11 on Oct. 4, 2014, when the Rebels won 23-17 at Oxford. Seven days later, Auburn was ranked No. 2 and State No. 3 when the two teams played on at Starkville. State won 38-23 to move to No. 1. Clearly, those games were huge.

This one Saturday (2:30 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium) is vitally important — perhaps even more important — for different reasons. A college football playoff berth is likely at stake. In the first 12-team college football rankings ever this week, 7-1 Georgia was ranked No. 3 and Ole Miss was ranked No. 16. But here’s the deal: Should Ole Miss, a 2.5-point underdog, defeat Georgia, the Rebels surely would zoom into the top 12 next week.

On the other hand, an Ole Miss defeat Saturday would be the Rebels’ third. In this new 12-team playoff scenario, three strikes and you’re out. With a loss, Georgia would remain in the playoff picture, but the Bulldogs would lose any chance for a first-round bye.

One indication of this game’s importance: All seats have long since been sold, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in. Indeed, you can get two club level seats in the south end zone on Seat Geek for $2,304 each. There are cheaper seats elsewhere but none less than $219 apiece. It’s a scalper’s delight.

It is also an incredibly intriguing matchup: Offensive whiz Lane Kiffin vs. defensive mastermind Kirby Smart. Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart vs. Georgia quarterback Carson Beck. Ole Miss, 12-1 in its last 13 home games, faces Georgia, which has won 53 of its last 56 regular season games overall and 23 of its last 24 on the road. Incredibly, those aren’t misprints.

The two head coaches, formerly assistants together under Nick Saban at Alabama, have said nothing to reduce the magnitude of the game. Not that they could.

Said Kiffin: “Anybody who’s gonna win (the national championship) is going to have to go through Georgia. They’re the premier program in college football.”

Meanwhile, Smart talks about the Rebels as if they are the Kansas City Chiefs.

“They’re one of the top passing teams, in my mind, in the country … They’ve done it with tight ends. They’ve done it with backs. They’ve done it with wideouts. It doesn’t matter who it is with Lane. He’s going to plug somebody in there. They’re going to figure out where your weaknesses are, find matchups, and look for coverages and find ways to beat those coverages. They’ve got a guy (Dart) that can do it. This guy’s playing uncanny football when you talk about the accuracy, the completion percentage, the yards he’s throwing it for. He’s not throwing dink and dunk passes now. This guy’s throwing the ball vertical, down the field, shots. Then, when you do that, let’s say you cover all that, and you do that, he can take off and run. You watch a quarterback run reel on this guy, and you don’t have enough people in the box. So, the reason they’re successful is because of the scheme and the players that are in the scheme.”

Dart currently plays the game at an elite level rarely seen in college football. He threw for 515 yards and six touchdowns last week at Arkansas. His numbers — 21 passing touchdowns vs. just three interceptions — are far better than Beck’s (17 TDs, 11 interceptions). 

But 360 days ago, Beck threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns in Georgia’s 52-17 trouncing of Ole Miss at Athens. Meanwhile, Dart threw 112 yards and not a single score before being knocked out of the game late in the third quarter. Georgia scored touchdowns on its first four possessions. It was utter dominance.

Can Ole Miss return the favor and slay the SEC’s dragon this time around?

Absolutely, the Rebels can. At their best, the Rebs can play with Georgia, even beat Georgia. In my opinion, the game will come down to which team can a) run the ball successfully and b) protect its quarterback.

Ole Miss doesn’t have to run for 200 yards or anything like that. But the Rebels do have to run it well enough that Georgia can’t, as announcers say, pin their ears back and take dead aim at Dart.

Ole Miss has protected Dart well in every game but two. Kentucky sacked Dart four times. LSU sacked him six times. Not coincidentally, those are the only two games Ole Miss lost. Here’s why: Ole Miss ran the ball only 29 times for 92 yards against Kentucky. The Rebels ran for 180 yards against LSU but inexplicably went away from the run in the second half when the Tigers sacked Dart four times.

Anybody who has watched Georgia under Smart knows you can’t be one-dimensional against the Bulldogs. You have to slow down that pass rush and you do that best by running the football. Example: Texas, ranked No. 1 at the time, ran the ball for only 29 yards and a yard per carry against Georgia. As a result, the Bulldogs sacked Texas quarterbacks six times in a 30-15 victory at Austin.

Yes, Ole Miss can win. The Rebels could do what the Longhorns couldn’t. But Ole Miss must run the ball with some success, and, against Georgia, that’s never easy. The wild card could be Dart’s own running, but that comes with the risk of injury. Against Georgia, we’ve already seen how that works out.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.