MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Prosecutors say a former Memphis Fire Department chief has pleaded guilty to forging what she claimed was the will of former state Rep. Ulysses Jones.
The Shelby County district attorney’s office says Sandra Evette Richards was sentenced to eight years’ probation after pleading guilty Wednesday to charges of forgery over $60,000, tampering with or fabricating evidence, and aggravated perjury.
She also must pay back nearly $24,000 for litigation costs incurred by Jones’ children, who successfully contested the forged will. Jones, who also was a battalion chief with the fire department, died in 2010.
A judge ruled the will submitted by Richards was a forgery. She had testified she was Jones’ fiancee and that she had helped him write the will, which left the bulk of his $100,000 estate to her.