It appears more trouble is in store for the former Cherokee County businessman associated with the Cherokee Memory Garden operation. 

64 year old Centre resident Johnny Charles Usry has been indicted by a Grand Jury for Theft by Deception 1st Degree.

Usry was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center on those charges on Friday before being released a short time later after posting a $15,000 bond.

According to the Indictment obtained by WEIS Radio from the Cherokee County Circuit Clerks Office, a Cherokee County Grand Jury found that Usry did knowingly obtain by deception control over checks, currency or the property of a named individual in the amount of $2,500 with the intent to deprive the owner of said property in violation of Section 13A-8-3 of the Code of Alabama.

Back in April of this year following numerous calls from concerned citizens regarding a lack of upkeep at Cherokee Memory Garden Cemetery and the closure of the flower shop – WEIS Radio did some investigating and as a result, learned that Mary Usry owned the stock to the corporation which owns the cemetery, and according to public records there are more than $200,000 in liens filed against the Cemetery Properties.

We have also been in contact with the Centre Police Department and are in the process of obtaining records of exactly how many reports have been filed regarding Cherokee Memory Gardens as they relate to this case.