Shelby Commission candidate: Past drug problems don’t reflect current life

May 23--As reporters dug into his past Thursday, would-be Shelby County Commissioner Eddie Jones was on the phone explaining he was fired by the Memphis Police Department for drug use 18 years ago and how he recently filed a series of legal papers filled with language borrowed from the extremist Sovereign Citizen movement while trying to keep a bank from foreclosing on his home.

Yes, said Jones, he had troubles years ago but his life is much different now. And Jones told The Commercial Appeal that despite the legal filing he is not a Sovereign Citizen, a collection of extremists who generally believe they are free of many common legal restraints and brand federal and local governments as illegitimate.

"I'm kind of glad all of this is out there,'' said Jones, 55, who as the winner of the May 6 Democratic primary in District 11 is expected to take office in September. The district is heavily Democratic and there is no Republican on the ballot. Election officials say even a write-in candidate couldn't beat him because, by law, any such candidate would have to have been certified 50 days before the primaries.

"Let's get this out of the way,'' Jones said. "What happened in my past, it happened. I won't deny that. I won't make up any excuses for it. But that's not a part of my life anymore.''

Records released by MPD show Jones was terminated in 1996 after drug screens in 1994 and 1995 tested positive for cocaine. Jones, a 14-year veteran of the force and one-time member of the elite TACT unit, was fired following a ruling by the city's Civil Service Commission.

Though Jones presented proof he'd been rehabilitated, he was dismissed because of the city's zero-tolerance drug policy.

" ... the City, with its zero tolerance drug policy, did give Officer Jones a second chance and went through proper procedures when he tested positive for cocaine a second time,'' the commission said in its ruling.

Jones said he's turned his life around.

The city rehired him about seven years ago and he serves as a supervisor in the code enforcement unit., he said. He's also been active with his church, education initiatives and community activism, he said.

"I've devoted my life to serving others, helping people ... And that's who I am.''

Jones has been involved recently in a battle with First Horizon Home Loans over the mortgage on his Whitehaven home. The bank has attempted to foreclose three times since 2009.

In response, Jones sued in federal court and filed a series of papers with the Shelby County Register's Office that are filled with language often used by Sovereign Citizens.

Referring to himself as "a living man created in the image of God, with indefeasible title to our land,'' Jones, along with his wife, Martel, declared in papers filed last year that bank trustees and agents "are hereby directed to immediately CEASE and DESIST any further actions ...''

JJ MacNab, a financial and insurance analyst who's studied Sovereign Citizens for years and has written on the movement for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said Jones' paperwork contains a lot of common sovereign ideas.

"It looks like he cut and pasted from a variety of places,'' MacNab said.

Jones said he filed his paperwork after receiving advice from friends, but said he has no connection to the movement.

"Absolutely no. I'm not a Sovereign Citizen. I've never tried to be a part of that organization,'' Jones said.

Jones said his differences with the bank started when he withheld payment on his mortgage to protest changes the bank kept making on where to send payments. He's owned his home since 1987 and said he has just three years left on his mortgage.

Despite pending litigation, Jones said he's recently been talking with bank officials, trying to settle differences.

"We're sitting down and working this out,'' he said.

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