MARTA member off criminal probation

By MEGAN MATTEUCCI

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A MARTA board member has completed his sentence for his public indecency case.

Ed Wall, 45, was sentenced a year on probation in June after pleading no contest to a charge he had sex in a Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport bathroom.

However, Clayton County State Court Judge John Carbo agreed to release Wall off his probation early after receiving a motion from Wall’s attorney Keith Martin.

Carbo has signed an order that Wall met all of the terms of his probation, including 64 hours of community service and a $500 fine.

Under the state’s first offender statute, the case is terminated, Martin said.

“The defendant shall not be considered to have a criminal conviction,” Carbo’s order reads.

Clayton Solicitor General Tasha Mosley said the order means the conviction will not affect Wall’s civil liberties, but it could remain on his record.

“It just means he is off of probation,” she said. “He still has a record per se.”

According to Clayton County Magistrate Court records, police said they found Wall and Michael Reid Pettry engaged in a sex act in a restroom at Hartsfield-Jackson on March 13, 2007. They arrested both men on public indecency charges.

In February, Pettry, of Indianapolis, pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 12 months of probation, a $500 fine and 64 hours of community service, according to court records.

At the time of his arrest, Wall was chairman of the MARTA board. He has since resigned as chairman but remains a member.

Wall was fired as Clayton County’s financial adviser in January. He previously advised Clayton periodically since 1988 and was hired as the county’s investment banker in October.