Former Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford, Jr. Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Tax Evasion

Memphis, TN - Edmund Ford, Jr., 47, was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment today for evading taxes in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The unreported income was derived from grant funds awarded to non-profits by the Shelby County Commission. United States Attorney D. Michael Dunavant, of the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to court documents and in-court statements, while serving as a Shelby County Commissioner, Ford failed to declare $310,743 in gross income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) during tax years 2018 to 2022, causing losses to the IRS in the amount of $110,604. The source of Ford's unreported income was non-profit organizations which had received grants from the Shelby County Commission.

In many cases, Ford sponsored the grants and voted in favor of awarding the grants to the grantees that would in turn use a portion of the grant funds to purchase computer equipment from a business Ford controlled called E&J Computer Services and Repair. After a Commercial Appeal article in 2021 calling attention to one such grant arrangement, Ford began using more sophisticated means to disguise grant-related income including intermediary accounts and the use of cash. Ford was confronted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and IRS-Criminal Investigation in May 2023, where he falsely minimized his involvement in E&J Computer Services and Repair.

On February 2, 2026, Ford pled guilty to five counts of tax evasion, a violation of 26 U.S.C. § 7201. Ford served as a Shelby County Commissioner beginning in 2018 and continuing until his guilty plea in this case. As part of the plea agreement, Ford resigned his position from the Shelby County Commission and agreed that by function of State law, he would be forever disqualified from seeking or holding any public office in the State of Tennessee or any political subdivision.

On October 6, 2026, District Judge Thomas L. Parker sentenced Ford to 24 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. The Court will provide an order of restitution at a later date.

While pronouncing the sentence today, the Court underscored that the source of the undeclared income was Ford's "corrupt" conduct involving the administration of County grants. The Court further emphasized that the funds that Ford failed to report as income and pay tax on were public funds derived from tax revenues others had paid. The Court also applied a sentencing enhancement for over $10,000 in income derived from criminal conduct related to the illegal structuring of payments from grantees to Ford. As part of the sentencing hearing, the Court reviewed approximately 52 letters of support for Ford and expressed frustration with multiple letters written by current elected officials on Shelby County or City of Memphis official letterhead.

U.S. Attorney Dunavant said, "Ford used his elected public office to unjustly enrich himself at the expense of taxpayers and then doubled down on the dishonesty by intentionally defrauding the IRS. These are indeed bold and arrogant actions that have no place in public service, and which have rightly earned him a prison sentence as just punishment. Ford clearly had the ability and intention to brazenly continue the same criminal conduct in the future, and this successful federal prosecution and sentence has now ensured that he will be held accountable and permanently removed from public service."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and IRS-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lynn Crum and Scott Smith prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the Fraud Division. The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department's work to combat fraud supports President Trump's Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

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