LAFOLLETTE, Tenn. (AP) – The mayor of a small east Tennessee city has been arrested on charges that he used city workers and equipment to work on property he owned, authorities said Thursday.
LaFollette Mayor Michael Stanfield was booked into jail Thursday after he was indicted on charges including official misconduct, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a news release.
Investigators said Stanfield used city employees and equipment to work on private property, some of which he owned. The type of property was not immediately released.
Stanfield also told a city employee to lie to state auditors, the TBI said.
News outlets report Stanfield is in his third term as mayor and running unopposed for a fourth term. Stanfield is an Army veteran who served in Vietnam and was formerly the head of the city’s public works department.