SNEEDVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has obtained indictments for the mayor of Sneedville and his associate in an ongoing vote-buying investigation.
The TBI says in a news release that agents began investigating Mayor Wayland Dean Rhea and associate Lowell Ray King in July 2014. The release says agents learned that earlier in 2014, Rhea and King paid or offered to pay money to a voter to induce support for a candidate in a county-wide election.
On Monday, the Hancock County Grand Jury indicted Rhea and King with two counts each of voter bribery. Both men subsequently turned themselves in to authorities, and remain in custody.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the men have attorneys.
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