Fayette commissioner gets probation, fine for marijuana possession

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By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Fayette County Commissioner Robert Horgan was placed on 12 months' probation and fined $800 after pleading no contest Thursday morning to charges of misdemeanor possession of marijuana and expired tags.

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AJC Robert Horgan

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Horgan was sentenced as a first offender in a plea bargain. Fayette State Court Judge Fletcher Sams also ordered Horgan to perform 40 hours of community service, undergo substance abuse evaluation, submit to drug testing and abstain from using drugs or alcohol during probation.

Horgan’s lawyer, Christy Jindra, asked Sams to give the same kind of sentence anybody else would receive, noting that the commissioner's case attracted media attention and resulted in extra legal fees.

“He ... endured a pound of flesh, your honor, and that’s because he’s a county commissioner,” Jindra said.

Authorities said a Fayette sheriff’s deputy stopped Horgan, 45, the night of May 23 after noticing expired tags on his truck. The deputy reportedly smelled marijuana smoke, asked to search the truck and found 4.3 grams of marijuana and one marijuana cigarette.

Horgan apologized at a county commission meeting and has rejected calls to resign. A recall effort faltered when a judge decided Aug. 28 that the crime was not connected to Horgan’s official duties.

After the court hearing on Thursday, Horgan said he plans to serve out his county commission term, which expires in 2012. He was first elected in 2006.

Horgan declined to answer reporters’ questions about where he obtained the drugs. Jindra said Horgan didn’t buy the marijuana and that the circumstances under which he obtained it were “embarrassing.”

“He has no source for drugs in Fayette County,” Jindra said.

Horgan still faces fallout from an ethics hearing, in which a three-member panel decided the commissioner had violated two sections of the county ethics ordinance. Those findings were passed on to the county commission, which could issue a reprimand, fine him $1,000, or both.

Jindra said Horgan may appeal the decision of the ethics panel, which was composed of non-Fayette county attorneys.

The case was prosecuted by Clayton Solicitor Tasha Mosley after the Fayette solicitor recused himself. Sams asked Mosley and Jindra if they objected to his hearing the case, and neither did.