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Ferguson PR consultant told city officials he had a college degree; now he says he doesn't [St. Louis Post-Dispatch](St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MO) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 30--Updated at 8:40 p.m. with statement from St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley noting that he has never met Devin James, the Ferguson public relations consultant. Devin James, the marketing consultant who was removed from a paid position managing Ferguson's public relations efforts after disclosures that he had once been convicted of reckless homicide, also claimed in his job application that he has a college degree, but now he acknowledges he does not. In his application to the city of Ferguson, and on his profile in the LinkedIn social network, James claimed he had earned a bachelor of science in psychology and biomedical engineering from the University of Memphis in 2003. In an interview with a Post-Dispatch reporter last week, he said he had left college months shy of a degree after being shot in a robbery in 2004. It was not clear how close James was to earning a degree. A woman who works in the communications office for the University of Memphis said the university does not release information about current or former students. Asked Tuesday by a reporter why he claimed to have a degree on LinkedIn, James replied in an email that when his profile was set up "there was no option for attended vs. completed. Not sure if there is now since I don't manage the page." As for the resume submitted to the city of Ferguson, James replied, "I didn't complete the resume personally much like I don't answer every media request personally. That (was) submitted by a staff member who generally puts together proposals based on individual request ... my staff just copied things from various sources like (LinkedIn) and other documents to get things done very quickly." James in an Aug. 19 letter to Ferguson City Manager John Shaw that he had organized a "4 year strategic plan to build regional awareness" that drew support from, among others, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley. Since his termination last week James has additionally told several St. Louis television news outlets that Dooley orchestrated the dismissal. The county executive said after Tuesday evening's council meeting said that he had nothing to do with the James' firing, adding that he can't recall ever meeting the public relations consultant. "I don't know the person," Dooley told reporters. The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership dismissed James last Thursday less than two hours after Partnership officials -- who'd helped James' agency land a subcontract on a North St. Louis County marketing campaign in March -- first learned of the criminal conviction in Memphis from a Post-Dispatch reporter. James, who has said he is continuing to work for Ferguson without pay, told a reporter in an email that he had "a lot to do" helping the city set up the town hall meetings with city residents set for tonight. Within minutes of the email exchange, his LinkedIn profile was edited to remove the degree. Steve Giegerich of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report ?Jeremy Kohler is an investigative reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @jeremykohler. ___ (c)2014 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at www.stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |