A former top-ranking GBI investigator pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to charging more than $60,000 to state-issued purchasing cards.
Sandra Stevens was indicted by a federal grand jury in May on charges she used the P-cards to purchase more than 325 items for herself, her friends, her family and her co-workers. She had pleaded guilty to similar state charges in 2017.
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Stevens, who was Sandra Putnam when she was employed by the GBI, was accused of using her card and those issued to at least six other GBI employees for “unauthorized purchases of goods,” according to the federal indictment. Stevens claimed the purchases were work-related on official paperwork, prosecutors said.
While the items often went to Stevens’ home in Covington, she claimed they were shipped to the GBI’s headquarters in Atlanta.
Stevens was charged with four counts of mail fraud and three counts of theft from a federal program. On Thursday, she pleaded guilty to mail fraud.
“Sandra Stevens took an oath to uphold the laws of the state of Georgia,” interim GBI Director Scott Dutton said in a statement. “Instead, she violated the public’s trust when she defrauded the government for personal gain. Public corruption will not be tolerated in Georgia and the GBI remains committed to working with our federal partners in these types of investigations.”
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The shopping spree began in 2013, according to records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the state’s case was closed. Among the items she purchased was a $930 leather sectional sofa that was reported to have been anti-virus software. When she wrote off a $399 purchase for chaise lounges to go around her backyard pool, she claimed it was for an iPad.
A University of Georgia golf bag she bought for her then-boyfriend, now husband, for $136 was claimed to be shoes “typically worn by GBI agents.” Stevens also spent on co-workers, buying high-end running gear to wear at events, records show.
The purchases ranged from $4 to $1,600. According to federal prosecutors, they were paid using federal money from grants intended for investigating the sexual exploitation of children, internet crimes against children and for intelligence sharing.
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In her 22-year career with the GBI, Stevens rose through the ranks to eventually hold the job of inspector of the Investigative Division, where she supervised 55 employees and made more than $100,000 per year.
Stevens was allowed to resign in lieu of termination in August 2016. She was arrested less than two weeks later.
When Stevens pleaded guilty to racketeering and violation of her oath of office in DeKalb County Superior Court in 2017, she was facing a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. State prosecutors suggested eight years in prison.
Her defense attorney asked for probation, with the first 30 days spent in the DeKalb County jail and then two years on home confinement.
Instead, Judge Clarence Seeliger sentenced Stevens to 10 years on probation as a first offender, citing her more than two decades of “honorable service.” That sentence was terminated weeks later once she had completed her required community service and paid back the $60,268.04 she defrauded the government.
When Stevens entered her plea to the federal charges Thursday, prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s office recommended a year in prison, officials confirmed to Channel 2 Action News. She is reportedly scheduled to be sentenced in March.
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