Eutaw City Council member arrested over cellphone misuse

A Eutaw City Council member and Greene County Sheriff’s Office deputy is facing charges of using his position for personal gain.

District 2 Eutaw City Council Member Lajeffery Carpenter was arrested Wednesday and released on a $10,000 bond.

WVUA 23 News spoke with Carpenter’s attorney Joel Sogol, who said Carpenter’s arrest happened because of the city’s purchase of cellphones.

Sogol said the city Of Eutaw purchased a large number of iPhones for $99 each and had a very large surplus.

“Some of the people were told that they could use the phones and buy them when they left city employment for the same $99,” Sogol said. “From my understanding, Mr. Carpenter availed his ability to do that and used several of the phones, although he set them up so that the city was not billed for the usage. It was all billed to him and somehow that’s how all this came to be.”

Greene County Sheriff Joe Benison said Carpenter has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of this investigation. The State Bureau of Investigation has taken over this case.