Former fire chief faces charge of conspiracy to commit federal program fraud

ASHEVILLE — After being continued numerous times over the last year, former Tryon Fire Chief Joey Davis is scheduled for federal court on Tuesday.

Davis’ hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday at the federal court building, located at 100 Otis Street, Asheville. 

Davis was fired as Tryon Fire Chief in January 2017, and was arraigned on April 12, 2017 on the charge of conspiracy to commit federal program fraud.

The charge stems from Davis allegedly using town credit cards to pay then Tryon Commissioner Roy Miller’s personal bills.

Miller was charged federally in April 2017 with one count of conspiracy to commit federal program fraud, one count of federal program fraud, one count of extortion under color of official right and one count of witness tampering, according to federal documents.

Miller pleaded guilty on April 20 and is currently being held in federal custody after violating his terms of release. A sentencing hearing has not yet been set for Miller.

Davis’ case has been continued nine times since last April.

The latest continuance occurred after Miller pleaded guilty to his charges.

“As grounds, the parties state that additional time is needed for reasons stated in the Sealed Motion to Continue that the parties now seek to have deemed a Sealed Memorandum,” states a federal court document. “In addition to the grounds stated in the Sealed Motion to Continue, the parties note that the majority of the previous continuances granted in this matter were sought by co-defendant Miller for reasons personal to him. Further, the parties state that counsel for the government assigned to this case (have) been unavailable recently due to serving on a committee designated to conduct interviews for the Magistrate Judge position opening in this district.

Additionally, the court continuance request states, the parties are working extremely hard to resolve this case, “both without the need for a costly trial and to see that substantial justice and fairness are accomplished.”

Miller resigned his elected position as town commissioner last June.