Two more arrested in kidnapping case involving former Ole Miss player Jerrell Powe
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Jan. 20—Authorities have arrested a Wayne County attorney and a Texas woman in connection with an alleged kidnapping in Mississippi involving a former Ole Miss football player and a multi-million dollar medical marijuana cultivation project.
Angela McClelland, 54, of Katy, Texas, was arrested Wednesday, Jan. 18, and booked into the Fort Bend County, Texas, Jail on a fugitive warrant and conspiracy to commit a felony. Ridgeland Municipal Court prosecutor Boty McDonald said her arrest is in connection with the kidnapping charges against former Ole Miss and NFL football player Jerrell Powe, 35, of Hattiesburg, and Gavin Bates, 35, of Roseville, California.
A Texas judge released McClelland on a fugitive bond Friday morning, which will allow her to travel to Mississippi and appear in court in Ridgeland on Monday morning.
U.S. Marshals arrested Cooper Leggett, 40, at his Wayne County home about 11 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19. Leggett, who is the attorney for the Wayne County Board of Supervisors, appeared in Ridgeland Municipal Court on Friday to face charges of conspiracy to commit a felony. He was later released from the Madison County Detention Center on a $20,000 bond.
Details of the alleged involvement by McClellan and Leggett have not been released.
During their initial appearances Tuesday, Powe and Bates were charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a felony. Both were released from the Madison County Detention Center in Canton the same evening after posting bonds of $100,000 apiece.
Tom Fortner, who is representing Powe, could not be reached for comment.
More details are starting to emerge about the Jan. 12 incident that appears to have started in Laurel and ended inside a Chase Bank branch in Ridgeland.
"(The alleged) victim is in a business venture, a medical marijuana growing project," McDonald told the Daily Journal. "Powe was an investor. Bates is a successful cultivator in California. He was brought in to kick the business off here. The investors became impatient. They felt they were being swindled and wanted their money back."
Tagg Creech, who is a friend of Powe, said he tried to warn Powe to avoid having any dealings with Bryce Mathis, the alleged victim in the alleged kidnapping. Creech said Mathis was fronting a $20 million marijuana growing operation near Buckatunna, Powe's hometown in Wayne County. Powe and some NFL friends reportedly invested $300,000.
"I saw Jerrell on the sidelines at the Egg Bowl (Nov. 24, 2022) and asked him if he was still dealing with Bryce," Creech said. "I told him to watch his back."
Creech said he and others were weary of investing with Mathis because of what he called previous sketchy dealings.
In January 2019, Mathis was indicted in Covington County on charges of false pretense and mail fraud, both felonies. Authorities said Mathis devised a scheme to defraud a lumber company of three truckloads of lumber, worth more than $66,000. The charges were dropped and the case dismissed 18 months later when Mathis paid full restitution.
When the medical marijuana project was not moving forward and Mathis appeared to be spending money freely, the investors started to question the legitimacy of the business venture, according to multiples sources close to the investigation. Powe asked for his money back.
"About three weeks ago, he (Powe) called. He said Bryce was avoiding him," Creech said.
At some point, it appears Powe decided to take matters in his own hands. But exactly what happened depends on who you ask.
According to police, Powe and Bates met with Mathis in Laurel and held him against his will. At some point, they drove the 100 miles to Ridgeland, going to a Chase Bank for Mathis to withdraw the $300,000. Mathis told bank officials he was there against his will, and they in turn called police.
According to Creech, Mathis agreed to return the money to Powe during a Jan. 11 a group call.
"There were five or six of us on the call. Bryce agreed to meet him (Powe) at the bank and give the money back," Creech said. "(Mathis) said he took the money he shouldn't have."
Creech thinks the trip to Ridgeland was just a ruse by Mathis to get Powe arrested and off his back
"There's no doubt in my mind that he set him up," Creech said.
But the Ridgeland prosecutor does not agree.
"This is a kidnapping," McDonald said. "We would not be prosecuting it in Ridgeland if it was not."
McDonald refused to give specifics about evidence in the ongoing investigation, but he seemed to indicate that Powe and Bates might have left a digital trail that investigators will be able to use to convict them.
"We have a substantial amount of evidence," McDonald said. "There is so much electronic data here that it will take a while to sort through and get it ready to present to a grand jury."
Madison County has a grand jury meet every month, but McDonald could not give a timeline on when this case might be presented.
