From: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Sheriff sent to prison for e-cigarette scheme devised with Marietta man
The get-rich-quick scheme devised by a Marietta man and his nephew seemed like it couldn’t miss. Set up a business to sell e-cigarettes for jail inmates – and use jail employees to distribute them.
How could it fail? The nephew was Sheriff Robert F. Arnold of Rutherford County, Tennessee. He allowed the e-cigs in the jail as non-contraband, and had his jailers help distribute them. To entice other jails to take part, the sheriff, his chief deputy Joe L. Russell and Arnold’s uncle, John Vanderveer of Marietta, Georgia, offered to pay jails $5 for every e-cigarette sold.