A local media account described Nicholson as a “major Hattiesburg player”. He is former auditor for Hattiesburg and Forrest County, Miss., has served as a director of the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation and is a former member of the state's Board of Trustees of the Institutions of Higher Learning, descried as a “perennial” gubernatorial appointee.

Nicholson was indicted on one count of conspiring to defraud the United States, four counts of filing false tax returns, and six counts of aiding in the preparation of false tax returns, including his own personal tax returns by claiming bogus business expenses over a four-year period.

The indictment identifies the attorney only as JL working for JLPA, a Forrest County-based firm. Nicholson was also the former attorney for former Forrest County Sheriff's chief deputy Charles Bolton and his wife, Linda Bolton, who are serving prison terms for tax fraud after sentencing a year ago. The couple is suing Nicholson, accusing him of misleading them and causing them to file false returns.

Separate news stories report attorney John Lee pleaded guilty in September for evading slightly less than $300,000 in taxes for tax years 2012 through 2014. The plea was unsealed in February. The Boltons were accused of cashing more than $300,000 in checks from Lee over five years, which were not declared as income.

Another local publication, the Jackson Jambalaya, reported Nicholson was charged with public drunk, public profanity, and disorderly conduct on Oct. 4, 2015 in the Lamar County, Miss., jail after he arrived to bail someone out on a DUI charge after both attended a wedding. The charges were all misdemeanors.