NEVADA CITY, Calif. – Indictments by a Nevada County criminal grand jury returned 29 counts of felony charges against the Fire Safe Council of Nevada County’s Executive Director Jamie Jones and Christopher Wackerly, who is still listed as the organization’s Director of Field Operations on the FSCNC website.

In a press release issued today, District Attorney Jesse Wilson stated, “The evidence presented to the grand jury indicates a flagrant misuse of taxpayer funds for personal enrichment and the use of organizational accounts as if they were personal accounts. That said, this is an indictment, not a conviction, and the defendants are entitled to the presumption of innocence as this case moves forward in court.”

Listed in the indictment are ‘special allegation-aggravated white collar crime- loss > $100,000 enhancements.’ The alleged pattern of fraud took place between Jan. 1, 2018 and May 3, 2025, according to the indictment. The total amount of money allegedly embezzled is not listed.

Fire Safe Council Board of Directors reaction

Reached by phone this morning, the FSCNC’s Vice President Steve Eubanks explained why the board believed and publicly defended Jones, “Our financial advisor was doing a very thorough job of looking at all of the charges and all the finances and everything for the Fire Safe Council itself and found nothing. I mean in terms of Fire Safe Council business, I don’t believe there’s any there there.”

We asked why their various finance people did not find anything in the years that Jones and Wackerly allegedly used Fire Safe Council money for personal expenses. “Well, if it was true, I would be concerned. But I’m telling you that in terms of looking at the details, it didn’t show up in any of the audits that we did. It was external audits as well as our financial advisor looking at things internally. In terms of how it actually shows up in the books, I can’t tell you, I just know that there weren’t any indications that prompted concern on the part of our financial manager or the auditors.”

Asked about next steps for the organization, Eubanks replied, “I think it’s too early for us to actually know exactly what we’re going to do our intent is to have a board meeting this next week and we’re going to be talking about the situation in detail.”

Since the board will meet at a later date, there has been no formal action yet to place Jones on administrative leave from the non-profit. It is unknown if she has access to the FSCNC’s data, bank accounts or if the organization’s credit cards issued to in her name have been revoked.

Eubanks added they were in the process “of doing detailed audit preparation for following years.” The last financial statements posted to their website are for the fiscal year 2022.

The FSCNC’s primary funding sources are state and federal grants. According to board minutes from November 2025, Jones informed the board directors that Cal OES Office of Audits and Investigations was holding reimbursements pending the outcome of the DA’s investigation. The reimbursements refer to a $4,932,000 Cal OES grant to the FSCNC that was destined to help low-income residents harden their homes against wildfires and a $7.8 million grant for their Deer Creek Defensible Space and Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project. 

Allegations of Unemployment Insurance Fraud

Count 10 of the indictment alleges Jones and Wackerly committed unemployment insurance fraud by making false statements. This appears to allege that they filed for unemployment benefits after the FSCNC furloughed/laid off all the fuels crews and other employees. The press release announcing the furloughs also stated “Administrative staff members will continue to volunteer their time.”

Subsequently, finance documents distributed during FSCNC board meetings showed accrued payroll expenses on the non-profit’s books. The accrued payroll category includes salaries, commissions, bonuses that have not yet been paid. This appears to indicate that Jones and Wackerly expected backpays. The documents are not available on the FSCNC website. In 2022 (the last financial statements posted to their website) Jones’ total compensation was listed as $243,870 and Wackerly’s was $179,470.

Jones and Wackerly are also accused of forging signatures on affidavits submitted to California’s Employment Development Department.

Mortgage fraud is alleged in count 16 of the indictment, count 17 alleges the use of false Fire Safe Council of Nevada County paystubs and altered bank statements.

The remaining counts (18-29) allege a multitude of transactions or attempted transactions involving a monetary instrument or instruments of a value exceeding $5,000 through a financial institution knowing that the monetary instrument represented the proceeds of, or was derived directly or indirectly from the proceeds of, criminal activity.

Wackerly remains in custody at the Wayne Brown jail, Jones has not been booked as of publication.

Read or download the full indictment here.

This is an update to our original story posted earlier.