31 year old Jessica Lehew has been charged with attempting to extort Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold.  Lehew was apprehended at 5:10am Monday morning and released shortly thereafter on a $2,500 bond. 

Lehew was a former employee of the Sheriff’s Department, who was terminated in November of 2012 for repeated tardiness and absence from work.  Early in the AM hours of Monday morning, and according to her own admission to jail staff was under the influence of alcohol when she began sending emails to Sheriff Arnold threatening him to rehire her, or else she would inform the Daily News Journal that her ex-husband, Will Lehew, himself a deputy for Rutherford County, had been abusing methadone and had recklessly shot a man on the job, to which the department had looked the other way. 

Neither drug testing by the TBI nor an investigation conducted by the Rutherford Sheriff’s Department turned up any evidence to substantiate Lehew’s allegations.  It is believed the entire story was fabricated by Jessica Lehew as a means to seek revenge on both her ex-husband, who she accuses of adultery, as well as Sheriff Arnold, whom she singlehandedly blames for her termination.  In the intervening time, Will Lehew has actually been promoted to Corporal. 

 If you missed the live press conference on WGNS, you can listen to it here.

COPY OF THE EMAILS SENT TO SHERIFF ARNOLD (Download the PDF File)