MOUNT VERNON — A former county employee under investigation for theft was indicted Monday for having a handgun despite his being barred from possessing firearms due to a prior robbery conviction.
Chester E. Woods, III, 36, Howard, was indicted Monday by the Knox County grand jury on one count of having weapons under disability, a third-degree felony. Woods is currently under investigation for allegedly using the Knox County Engineer’s Office credit card to make $4,685 in personal purchases; at the time, Woods was employed as the engineer’s fiscal officer.
Woods was fired in May. The investigation into the thefts is being handled by the Auditor of State’s office.
The firearms charge stems from a search warrant executed July 8 related to the theft investigation at Woods’ residence. During the search, a 9mm handgun was found with a trigger lock, Knox County Prosecuting Attorney Chip McConville said. Woods turned over the key to the trigger lock, “indicating he had control over” the gun, McConville said.
Woods is barred from having weapons due to a 2005 conviction on robbery charges in Wayne County. The charges stem from Woods and an accomplice holding up two businesses at gunpoint. He was sentenced to six years in prison for the offenses.
Woods was hired by Knox County Engineer Cameron Keaton as a fiscal officer in 2016 despite Keaton knowing of his felonious past. In a previous interview with the News, Keaton said he has “a church relationship” with Woods and heard him speak about his past in church.
The fiscal officer position was not advertised and Woods was the only applicant, Keaton said. A background check was performed during the hiring process that turned up prior convictions.
According to the search warrant, Keaton’s office provided Knox County Sheriff’s deputies with a list of items purchased by Woods using the county’s card. The search warrant inventory shows 50 items taken into evidence, most of which were tools. It also includes the handgun, four magazines and two boxes of ammo.
