CHARLOTTE — When Stephanie Sneed and Raki McGregor sought a $400,000 contract from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office, they pitched it under the business name of former CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings.
Jennings tells Channel 9 that he had no idea the pitch was submitted.
The former CMPD chief told Channel 9 that he has no affiliation with former CMS Board Chair Stephanie Sneed and Raki McGregor. That’s despite Sneed and McGregor seeking a contract with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office under the name of Jennings’ business, JCG704 (Jennings Consulting Group).
Jennings says he met Raki McGregor through a friend and McGregor contacted him and asked for support on a project he was working on to provide consulting services for MCSO. Jennings says he expressed interest in assisting because he knows Sheriff McFadden well. Jennings says he met with Raki and Sneed to discuss the proposal and he agreed to work with them if they were awarded a contract.
He says that meeting was the end of any formal discussions he had about this. He says he hasn’t talked to Raki McGregor or Stephanie Sneed in months. He says he has never discussed the proposal with Sheriff McFadden and he did not even know McGregor and Sneed pitched it to the sheriff. He says he just learned through news stories.
He says Raki McGregor and Stephanie Sneed are not business partners with JCG704 and he is not working on any other projects with them. He also says he has no knowledge of any other business ventures between McGregor and Sneed.
The $400,000 proposal, which MCSO rejected, would have been funded by Mecklenburg County. CMS also is funded by Mecklenburg County. The proposal was for consulting, leadership training and social-emotional programming.
Sheriff Garry McFadden released a statement today confirming the non-involvement of Jennings, despite the presentation namedropping him and the use of his company’s name.
“As discussion continues regarding the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office will refrain from commenting on the broader issue. However, I want to clarify our communications regarding JCG 704 LLC, the company identified in the slide presentation. MCSO has not discussed this subject matter at any time with Chief Jennings,” Sheriff McFadden said. “Chief Jennings has not communicated with me in my capacity as Sheriff, or with my staff, regarding any proposal or contractual discussions related to this matter. Given our longstanding friendship and years of service together in law enforcement, I believe it is important to make this distinction clear.”
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