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Nancy Jones, the widow of legendary country crooner George Jones, is being countersued by her ex-boyfriend after accusing him of stealing $10 million in cryptocurrency.
Kirk West, who was in a romantic relationship with Jones for 12 years, says the two shared their assets and he is entitled to one half of Jones’ cryptocurrency, cash and precious metals.
West was arrested at Nashville International Airport on July 24 and charged with theft of more than $250,000 after Jones reported him to police. That case is ongoing.
Jones sued West in Williamson County Chancery Court on July 25 to get back the cryptocurrency she says West covertly took from her after they broke up. West countersued Jan. 9.
The two met while the bereaved Jones was selling a home, four months after her husband George Jones died on April 26, 2013.
Jones, in her lawsuit, says West was then “effectively penniless” and “without a place of his own.” West denies this in his countersuit. While their timelines differ, by late 2013 Jones and West were dating and living together in Jones’ home. At some point during their relationship, West began managing at least some of Jones’ money.
Three years later, West was in hot water.
Federal prosecutors said between 2008 and 2010, West had misrepresented himself as a real estate investor to get loans from Reliant Bank. He inflated his income and forged documents as part of the fraud, prosecutors said.
He pleaded guilty on Sept. 14, 2016, two months after he was charged.
Jones, meanwhile, had been footing the bill. She paid for attorneys David Raybin and Kim Hoode to represent West, and she says she also paid West’s $787,663.68 in court-ordered restitution. West says this money came from “funds the parties had accumulated through Mr. West’s (investing) efforts.”
West had purchased assets like real estate and precious metals, but he became an expert in cryptocurrency while on house arrest for his 2016 conviction, according to both Jones’ and West’s legal filings.
Jones says West’s investing was done solely with her money. West says their funds had been comingled and it would now be “very difficult” to separate his from hers.
In June 2025, Jones and West broke up. What happened next is unclear. West says Jones agreed to split their assets evenly so he would move out of her house. Jones’ lawsuit does not mention such an agreement. None of the traditional assets were divided between them when West left.
With West gone, Jones says she soon noticed the physical device storing some of her cryptocurrency was not in her safe. Other cryptocurrency was also missing from digital wallets in her name, she later learned.
Jones demanded West return the cryptocurrency, West says. But West says he was reluctant to give it back before receiving half of the other assets.
Jones contacted cybercrime investigator Paul Sibenik of CryptoForensic Investigators, at which point she was able to recover a portion of the missing cryptocurrency. Jones says West still holds about $10 million of cryptocurrency that belongs to her, but West says Jones now has more than half of the crypto they shared and all of everything else — assets he says he built through his investing.
Jones is represented by attorneys Chris Thorsen, Jeremy Ray and Madison Tao and accused West of charges like conversion — similar to theft — and fraud. West, represented by Dana McClendon, accuses Jones of conversion, defamation and abusing the legal process.
West says Jones’ allegations have exposed him “to wrath, public hatred, contempt, or ridicule, or deprived him of the benefits of public confidence or social interaction.”
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.