Former Sumner County sheriff pleads to fraud

J.D. Vandercook was sheriff at the time he was indicted last year on eight charges of fraud and money laundering. The indictment claimed that Vandercook and his brother, Jerry Vandercook, tried to defraud the county of $48,000 in a scheme to build a maintenance garage for the sheriff’s department.

The indictment said the Vandercooks concealed the fact that the sheriff’s brother was the contractor for the project and used a telephone company account to hide their transactions.

In return for his guilty plea, other charges against J.D. Vandercook will be dropped by prosecutors. His sentencing was set for May 21.

Vandercook, sheriff since 1994, didn’t seek re-election and left office last fall.