Nearly five months after a state multi-county grand jury indictment, suspended Coal County Sheriff Jason Smith has accepted a plea deal while a removal trial remains on the calendar.
Smith — who moonlights as a country singer who goes by “Cadillac” — was originally indicted on Nov. 25, with two misdemeanor assault charges for allegedly shoving his own wife and punching a deputy’s husband on July 26.
Court records filed March 30 in Coal County District Court show Smith pleaded no contest to a single misdemeanor count of assault and battery and received a 90-day deferred sentence along with unsupervised probation, with supervision fees waived. The second misdemeanor charge was dismissed under the plea agreement.
Smith, in his plea agreement document, agreed, “If trial were held, state believes that witnesses would appear (and) testify in conformity with police report made (and) defendant would be found guilty of [misdemeanor] assault and battery.”
Smith’s undersheriff, Jesse Yother, was also indicted in connection with Smith’s case for a felony count of intimidation of a witness for telling a witness to change her statement and a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer by preventing a Coalgate police officer from doing an investigation. In his own plea deal, Yother ultimately pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor count, and the felony was dismissed.
During a Feb. 9 hearing, Yother hesitated to resign from his position under his plea agreement. District Judge Mark Campbell told Yother he would not accept the agreement if he did not agree to resign. After speaking with his counsel, Yother agreed to resign his position from “hereafter” and received a six-month non-supervised deferred sentence and was ordered to pay court costs.
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Removal trial still set
Filed a day before his criminal indictments were unsealed, grand jurors recommended Smith be removed from office on accusations of oppression in office and habitual drunkenness.
With the district attorney who was assigned to handle the criminal case and removal proceedings resigning on Friday, the removal trial remains set for April 27.
Asked if the plea agreement had changed the status of the removal trial, Smith’s attorney, James Pasquali, said he “should have some news” later this week.
According to the grand jury’s petition, several alleged incidents happened between May and June of 2025, including the incident that spurred criminal indictments.
Smith, in a statement after the petition was unsealed, said the allegations were false and “politically motivated, based on one-sided testimony from employees of the previous administration.”
Campbell formally suspended Smith from office on Dec. 11, following a legal snafu that ultimately invalidated a Dec. 1 vote by Coal County Commissioners to suspend Smith.
Under the allegation of oppression in office, Smith is accused of making repeated sexual and inappropriate comments on May 19 to a sheriff’s office employee.
“Some of these comments and acts included Jason Smith grabbing [her] by the neck and pulling her hair during work hours,” the petition states. “These comments were sexual in nature, creating a hostile work environment for [her].”
That same day, Smith allegedly “made repeated inappropriate and unprofessional comments” to one of his deputies.
“Some of these comments and acts included Jason Smith touching [the deputy] on her breast(s) and adjusting her sheriff’s deputy vest,” the petition states.
The comments and actions were sexual in nature and created a hostile work environment for the deputy, the petition alleges.
Along with repeating the allegation in the criminal indictment, the petition states Smith’s final allegation of oppression in office was slapping a female employee on her bottom, though the filing did not include a date for that accusation.
Beyond the harassment and violence allegations, the grand jury says Smith repeatedly drank on duty.
“On July 16, 2025, Jason Smith was drunk while on duty,” the petition alleges. “On May 19, 2025, Jason Smith was intoxicated and smelled of alcohol while on duty at the Coal County Jail. (…) At other relevant times during the administration of Jason Smith he would report to the office with the odor of alcohol and additional indicators of drunkenness.”
The petition also alleges that “the sheriff’s wife has expressed concerns about Jason Smith’s drinking.”
