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Indicted Pikeville Mayor Caught Hiding From Our Camera

2,623 views · Published 15 August 2012 · 2:35 · Indexed 6 November 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2012 · News & Politics

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by John Pless  Pikeville's mayor is in serious trouble with the law, charged with taking and misusing about 50,000 in tax payer money. During our quest to speak with Mayor Greg Johnson for his side of the story we encountered people serving around him who seemed to be protecting him from our questions.As you will see in the video link above it appears Mayor Johnson was hiding from us with help from his police chief.After posting a 0,000 bond Mayor Johnson never stepped down or took a leave of absence as the criminal case against him develops in court. He's still on the city payroll.Here's a reflection of what people in town are saying."It does seem odd, I think I would resign immediately but I don't know where in the world you could find him," Patty Holland said.And neither did we, until later Monday afternoon. City employees gave us different stories -- he's out of the office, no one knows where he is or how to contact him, or he's on the phone. After about an hour of waiting  Pikeville Police Chief Ronald Byrd came out of a back office at City Hall. Our camera was on the front counter rolling the whole time.As our video plays you can hear a city employee ask Chief Byrd as he walks by "Is Greg back there?" Chief Byrd replies "I didn't see him."Chief Byrd is seen returning into the back office, then coming back out to the public reception area where we were waiting. That's when the video shows Mayor Johnson peering out of the back office then stepping out of view behind a door. Chief Byrd is then seen going back into the office with Mayor Byrd. The video shows how a few seconds later Mayor Johnson's arm reached around and shut the door.When we described what happened to Pikeville resident Lonnie Davis he replied "a guilty conscious to me, might not want to be talking to somebody, you know what I'm saying?"A Tennessee State Comptroller investigation accuses Mayor Johnson of illegally spending 50,000 in tax payer money for his personal use. The audit shows he spent more than 00,000 on vehicles the city never used but he gave one to his daughter and took another to a Miami vacation. The list of vehicles includes a Lexus and Range Rover. Records show he kept the cars out of sight in private building.Johnson is also accused of falsely billing taxpayers ,700 a month for health insurance he never bought -- totaling 30,000.Resident Sandra Angel said "it really made me upset and mad when I found out he took the tax payer money and he bought his daughter a car."City Attorney Ed Boring said he will not file ouster proceedings, instead leaving the criminal case to the courts.But residents like Angel think he should step down now. "Because that's a lot of money that's missing, my money!"City Alderman were scheduled to meet Monday night, but no one would say if they would talk about the Mayor and the investigation. Mayor Johnson is due in court on the criminal charges September 26.

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