Suspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, sentenced to 18 months in prison on July 8 after being convicted of trying to force a county vendor to make a contribution to his re-election campaign, was released Tuesday, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Ellis’ attorney, Anthony Lake, declined to comment Wednesday on the release because his client is appealing the conviction.
Burke Brennan, the county's spokesman, issued this statement via email: “DeKalb’s efficient and responsive government continues to operate under the leadership of Interim CEO Lee May, as it has since July 2013, when he was appointed by Governor Nathan Deal under the provisions of O.C.G.A. 45-5-6(d)(1).”
List of DeKalb scandal
At least 40 DeKalb County elected officials, appointees, business people, teachers, police officers and others have been convicted of corruption-related charges in recent years.
- CEO Burrell Ellis: Attempted extortion and perjury
- Commissioner Elaine Boyer: Fraud
- John Boyer, her husband: Fraud
- Bob Lundsten, her aide: Obstruction
- Zoning Board of Appeals member Jerry Clark: Bribery
- Business owner Ismail Sirdah: Bribery
- Superintendent Crawford Lewis: Obstruction
- School construction chief Pat Reid: Theft
- Architect Tony Pope: Theft
- Janitorial services employee Patrick Jackson: Conspiracy
- Facilities maintenance employee Cecil Clark: Conspiracy
- Clarissa Brown, an assistant to District Attorney Robert James: Unauthorized use of financial transaction card
- 15 police and sheriff's office employees for drug, sexual assault, theft and drug charges
- Nine DeKalb employees for stealing overtime, government funds and fixing traffic tickets
- Six school employees for altering testing records and theft
