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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

JACKSON — A Jackson police sergeant and SWAT member was arrested and charged with accepting a bribe.

Richard McGahey, 43, of Clinton was arrested Tuesday night and indicted by a Hinds County grand jury for allegedly accepting a bribe in exchange for releasing a suspect.

After arraignment, Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Jeff Weill set McGahey’s bond at $15,000 and scheduled a trial date of Feb. 11, 2013.

The Mississippi Attorney General’s office made the arrest with help from JPD and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office.

McGahey faces up to 10 years in prison bars if he is convicted.

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.