Operation Pretense

Operation Pretense was a sting operation conducted by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the mid-1980s that resulted in convictions against 71 people, including 55 county supervisors, on corruption-related charges such as bribery and extortion in the state of Mississippi. The investigation began in March 1984 and lasted until late 1987, with the first indictments being issued on February 13 of that year.

In the early 1980s, each of Mississippi's 82 counties were divided into five districts, each overseen by an elected supervisor who was responsible for almost all government functions within their district, including financial activities regarding county infrastructure. This system, which allowed supervisors unchecked control over almost all routine purchases with no requirement for records-keeping or inventorying, led to abuses on the part of the supervisors who benefitted from payoffs and kickbacks from vendors operating in their district. In 1982, businessman John Burgess contacted the FBI after a salesman for a pipe company he had recently bought a stake in told him that he had been required to give a kickback to a supervisor in order to do business in that district. The FBI began an investigation which they named "Operation Pretense", a shortening of "Operation Preacher's Ten Percent Supervisors' Expense", which was a reference to Burgess's other career as a Pentecostal minister. Burgess agreed to open a front organization for the FBI and worked with special agents who posed as salesmen, recording testimony from supervisors and other vendors and gaining evidence on the corruption. In total, 57 supervisors from 25 counties were indicted, and 55 were found guilty, of at least one felony charge. Additionally, the investigation resulted in guilty charges against 13 vendors, two commissioners for the Mississippi State Highway Commission, and one county road foreman.

Following the indictments, Mississippi State Auditor Ray Mabus announced his candidacy for the governorship of Mississippi, winning election on a reform platform. In 1988, the state government passed legislation requiring counties to institute central purchasing authorities and to hold referendums on whether to maintain the current supervisor system or replace it with a new manager system, with over half of the state's counties opting for the new system. Regarding the operation, historian James R. Crockett of the University of Southern Mississippi wrote, "Operation Pretense devastated lives, derailed political careers, and resulted in significant reforms in county government. However, those reforms were far from perfect or complete".