Former state hospital employee indicted for stealing from vulnerable person

LAUDERDALE COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – A former employee of the East Mississippi State Hospital faces 10 years in prison for allegedly stealing money from a resident of the facility, according to Attorney General Jim Hood.

36-year-old Gregory Freeman of Meridian was indicted by a Lauderdale County grand jury for one count of felony exploitation of a vulnerable person. The indictment alleges between December 2017 and April 2018, Freeman accepted $500 from a resident of the facility in exchange for tobacco products valued at less than $100. At the time, Freeman was employed as a direct care worker at the facility.

Freeman is currently being held in the Lauderdale County Jail on a separate and unrelated capital murder charge.

His initial appearance for this case is set for October 31. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.