County spent $50K on gaming gear earlier than IT director arrest

WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — A former Wilson County IT director faces costs for official misconduct and theft. After I filed a number of data requests our investigation revealed intensive purchases of high-end gaming tools and Apple merchandise utilizing taxpayer funds.

Ken Hammonds was indicted in November by the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office for official misconduct and theft over $60,000 following a months-long investigation. However, buy order paperwork obtained by a public data request recommend the precise quantity might exceed $100,000.

I filed a data request for copies of the IT division’s buy orders from Wilson County authorities months in the past. Officials initially denied my request, claiming the paperwork have been a part of the investigation. However, in 2019, News Channel 5 received a lawsuit establishing that enterprise paperwork obtainable publicly earlier than an investigation stay public throughout an investigation. After a number of emails and telephone conversations with county leaders and investigators, we obtained among the paperwork.

Purchase orders from 2020 to 2022 present the IT division spent over $90,000 on high-end Apple tools and over $50,000 on gaming tools. The purchases included Dell Alienware gaming laptops costing greater than $19,000, graphics playing cards for $9,500, Video Cards for SFF Computers for $7,000, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Graphics Cards for $5,600, MSI Graphics Cards for $7,000 and Replacement Graphics Cards for $6,600. County taxpayer {dollars} additionally funded a Mac Pro Tower for greater than $16,000.

Technology professional and programmer Adam Wilczek reviewed the acquisition orders and famous the extreme nature of many gadgets.

“These are the machines Apple expects businesses to buy and their price is such,” Wilczek stated.

Investigators discovered a number of stolen computer systems and digital gadgets at Hammonds’ house. They imagine he created a personal firm by which he billed Wilson County Government for unauthorized companies. The kind of firm stays unknown.

Looking on the buy orders, the expertise professional famous that many gadgets align with tools wanted for an IT firm, gaming enterprise, or expertise reselling operation.

Wilson County leaders declined to remark because the case continues by the courts. Questions about whether or not the county possesses this tools or if it is being utilized in county authorities stay unanswered.

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This story was reported on-air by Amanda Roberts and has been transformed to this platform with the help of AI. Our editorial crew verifies all reporting on all platforms for equity and accuracy.