Former Canton Municipal Utilities Commissioner and Former Canton City Engineer Sentenced to 7 and 12 Years Prison for Bribery Scheme in Federal

Jackson, MS - Rudolph M. Warnock, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama, and Cleveland Anderson of Canton, Mississippi were sentenced today to 144 months and 84 months in federal prison, respectively, for their roles in a bribery scheme.

In July, a federal jury convicted Warnock and Anderson of multiple felony charges following an eight-day trial.

Counts 1 and 2 of the indictment charged Warnock and Anderson with conspiring to commit bribery. Warnock was also charged in Counts 3 and 4 of the indictment with conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and the completed offense of honest services wire fraud. Warnock and Anderson were both convicted on all the counts for which they were charged in the indictment.

Their co-defendants, former City of Canton Aldermen Eric Gilkey and Andrew Grant, are scheduled to be sentenced on January 15, 2026. Grant and Gilkey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in November 2022, and face a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Baxter Kruger of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff of the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the announcement.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant United States Attorneys Kimberly T. Purdie and David H. Fulcher are prosecuting the case.