Overview
- The arrest, which took place Tuesday, came after a controlled buy at a Jackson County home where detectives took 45-year-old James Everett Jenkins into custody without incident.
- A Jackson County resident reported on May 26 that hundreds of silver bars bought over several weeks for $38,250 were counterfeit after a coin dealer’s metal analysis found no silver.
- Detectives seized additional suspected gold and silver bars during the operation and say tests show nearly all of the seized items were counterfeit, including a purported gold lot valued at about $210,000.
- Jenkins preliminarily faces two mid-level fraud counts, online court records did not yet show a filed case, and investigators are reviewing evidence while seeking prosecutorial input about a possible additional person and asking other buyers to contact the sheriff’s office.
- Sheriff’s officials urged buyers to verify precious-metals authenticity through reputable dealers before private sales, a warning that could lead more alleged victims to come forward and change how large private transactions are handled.