UNICOI COUNTY, TN (WOKI) – An investigation by special agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has resulted in the indictment of three former Erwin Police Department (EPD) employees.
In September, at the request of 1st Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney, TBI special agents began investigating allegations of misconduct involving former Erwin Police Chief Regan Tilson (DOB: 12/13/70), along with Gary Wayne Edwards (DOB: 01/16/67), a former EPD captain, and Tiffany D. Tilson (DOB: 04/08/85), the former EPD operations officer. Shari Tayloe was appointed by the court to serve as the Pro Tem Prosecutor upon the recusal of 1st Judicial District Attorney General Steve Finney. During the investigation, agents learned that in December 2024, all three individuals conspired to submit fraudulent training documents to the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Commission on behalf of the Erwin Police Department. Further investigation revealed that the timesheets of several officers had been altered to indicate they had attended in-service training, which never occurred. The fraudulently obtained P.O.S.T. training credits also made all EPD officers eligible for a salary supplement.
On March 10th, the Unicoi County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Regan Tilson, Gary Wayne Edwards, and Tiffany Tilson each with one count of Conspiracy to Commit Official Misconduct, one count of Official Misconduct, one count of Theft over $10,000, and three counts of Tampering with Governmental Records. All three turned themselves in and were booked into the Unicoi County Jail.
