JACKSON, Miss — A Memphis business owner and nephew of a beloved Memphis pastor pled guilty Tuesday to a federal bribery charge stemming from a conspiracy to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Mississippi Department of Education, according to federal court documents.
Joseph Kyles faces up to 10 years in jail, and up to $250,000 in fines for the bribery charge. He's the nephew of the late civil rights icon and pastor Samuel "Billy" Kyles.
Kyles was originally charged with money laundering, bribery, and wire fraud, in connection to a scheme involving the former Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Education, Cerissa Renfroe Neal.
The indictment alleges Neal used her position with the MDOE to split contracts from one contract into smaller contracts, in order to avoid having to formally put out a competitive bid. The indictment alleges the conspirators, Kyles and two others, coordinated their submissions to the DOE, as well as shared the resulting contract payments.
The indictment says Neal personally gained $42,000. It says Kyles and two other defendants garnered $650,000 from the state of Mississippi.
The bribery charge Kyles pled guilty comes from an incident on March 11, 2015, where he, along with Neal, deposited a $20,000 check that stemmed from illegal, fraudulent sources, a violation of federal law.
Kyles initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, but filed a motion to plead guilty to the bribery charge in May, which was granted Tuesday. He was also assigned a federal probation officer.
Neal is still listed as a defendant in the case.
