Three officers fired after Pilot Mountain concludes police corruption investigation

The town of Pilot Mountain has officially fired three police officers after concluding its weeks-long investigation into departmental corruption. Officials at a press conference Wednesday said the officers were involved in a years-long scheme to defraud the town and a local nonprofit organization. 

Town officials said the investigation, which was completed by an outside consulting group, found evidence of fraud dating back to 2018. 

Ian Redman, a spokesperson for the town, explained the allegations center on how the department handled off-duty work at car shows.

“Police officers were knowingly scheduled for off-duty assignments at car shows at the same time as their on-duty assignments with the town of Pilot Mountain, thus defrauding either the town of Pilot Mountain, the nonprofit organization running the car show or both," he said. 

The internal review found 22 instances of this between 2018 and 2022.

A release from the town says the department also “knowingly avoided reporting off-duty earnings to the Internal Revenue Service.”

Additionally, investigators found evidence that Robbie Jackson “used his position as chief of police to assist others” in purchasing firearms using the city’s procurement system, likely in an effort to get a better price on the items. Redman said Jackson then fraudulently signed a federal form stating the guns would be used exclusively by the police department. 

“Our investigative team found overwhelming evidence that these allegations were not only based in truth, but likely expanded beyond the scope of their investigation," he said. 

Jackson resigned shortly after being placed on administrative leave when the allegations surfaced in November. Former Chief Darryl Bottoms was fired on November 20. Sergeant Jason Chrismon and Officer Ryan Blizzard were let go on Monday.

Officials said a whistleblower within the police department sparked the investigation. A state criminal investigation into the matter is ongoing.