Former Gov. Roy Barnes on Thursday said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks will mount a vigorous challenge of a 30-count federal indictment that accuses him of stealing nearly $1 million over 20 years from a pair of charities.
Brooks, D-Atlanta, was indicted last week and was released on bond Wednesday.
Barnes, who is representing Brooks, told reporters at his Marietta law office that Brooks, who pleaded not guilty, might have been in need of an accountant but did not break the law. Barnes said U.S. Attorney Sally Yates should have used her discretion and not brought charges against the civil rights veteran.
Last week, the grand jury in Atlanta handed up a 30-count indictment that alleged Brooks over nearly two decades funnelled almost $1 million in donations to the charities into his personal accounts and used the funds to pay expenses such as home repair, lawn service, credit card bills and entertainment.
The indictment said Brooks, first elected to the state House in 1980, misappropriated funds from the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, of which he served as president, and Universal Humanities, an organization he established in the early 1990s to combat illiteracy in disadvantaged communities.
Brooks was required to surrender his passport and instructed not to travel outside Georgia without permission from the court.
Barnes refused to allow Brooks to speak to reporters and claimed that someone from the FBI was in the room during the news conference.
The former governor said Brooks was reimbursed for expenses from both organizations instead of drawing a salary.
“What he should have done was set up a salary for his full-time work, a very modest salary, and if he had done that we would not be here today.”
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