The man police say was dating Nancy Jones — the widow of country music icon George Jones — stole cryptocurrency valued at more than $11.6 million and $400,000 in cash from her, according to a Williamson County arrest affidavit.
Kirk West is charged with Class A felony theft of $250,000 or more. He is scheduled to appear in court at 9:10 a.m. on July 29, court records show.
Franklin Police say West, 58, was in a romantic relationship with Jones when he allegedly stole the cash and cryptocurrency wallet from two safes inside her Franklin home.
Jones filed a theft report on July 23. One day later, West, 58, was arrested at Nashville International Airport.
The arrest affidavit said Jones called her granddaughter to secure jewelry and money from a safe after she suspected West of cheating on her.
When the granddaughter checked the safe, she reported the money and cryptocurrency wallet containing $5,534,307 in coin were missing. The cryptocurrency was valued at $2.10 per coin, meaning the wallet was worth $11.6 million total, according to the affidavit.
Jones told investigators she and West were the only two people who had access to a private key to open the wallet.
The arrest affidavit says Jones was able to recover all but $483,205 of the cryptocurrency.
After Jones kicked West out of her home on June 28, West called Jones saying he would return $5 million in cryptocurrency but, “that was all she would get,” the affidavit said.
West previously pleaded guilty to bank fraud in a 2016 federal case. He was sentenced to three years of supervised release, including one year of house arrest and ordered to pay around $800,00 in restitution, court records show.
George Jones died in 2013 at 81 due to respiratory failure. He and Nancy Jones were married in 1983.
On June 3, 2025, she was present at the unveiling of his statue on the Ryman’s Icon Walk. When asked about what she wanted tourists to take from seeing his statue, she said, “I don’t want anyone to forget him, and the fantastic music he released.”