Overview
- The criminal grand jury indictment returned April 30 charges executive director Jamie Jones and field operations leader Christopher Wackerly with more than two dozen felonies.
- Prosecutors list embezzlement, grand theft, money laundering, mortgage and insurance fraud, perjury, forgery, and related offenses tied to the nonprofit’s finances.
- Investigators say the alleged scheme spanned about six years and involved multiple public funding sources with losses alleged to exceed $100,000.
- Wackerly is in custody at Nevada County’s Wayne Brown Correctional Facility, and both defendants are expected to be arraigned soon.
- The Fire Safe Council disputes the findings, denying claims such as money going missing, as the case builds on earlier civil grand jury reports that criticized the group’s financial controls.