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Read the latest AJC stories and analysis about this case.
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Review what Kelvin Walton said during his testimony.
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As jurors in the corruption trial of DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis remained locked in deliberations Tuesday, a key prosecution witness resigned his government job just as he was facing certain termination following his testimony that he lied under oath and accepted gifts.
DeKalb Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton, who secretly recorded conversations with Ellis, also is now the target of a federal investigation, according to Channel 2 Action News.
Walton allegedly received several $1,000 payments from a company called Metals and Materials Engineers (MME), which has received millions of dollars in DeKalb County contracts, according to Channel 2 Action News.
A middleman for the company who made the payments to Walton came forward to federal prosecutors, Channel 2 reported.
Walton dodged state prosecution for lying under oath by agreeing to work with prosecutors and spy on Ellis, but his cooperation with District Attorney Robert James’ office doesn’t protect him from potential federal charges. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Atlanta, Bob Page, said he couldn’t confirm or deny an investigation of Walton.
In Ellis’ trial, the jury is weighing accusations that he shook down contractors for campaign contributions. The jury deliberated charges of bribery, extortion, theft and perjury for two hours on Monday and about five hours on Tuesday before recessing in the late afternoon.
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May said he found Walton’s testimony “troubling.”
“It brought into question the ethical standards of our county, and we really believe much of the public’s trust had been put in jeopardy,” May said. “We all knew that we were going to come to a position like today where we had to move forward and begin with a clean start.”
In addition to Walton’s resignation, May fired Ellis’ former assistant, Nina Hall. During Ellis’ trial, Hall invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 30 times when asked questions about whether she had taken money from vendors.
Both Walton and Hall had been suspended with pay since April, when May said the accusations against them had become a distraction.
Walton continued to receive his $153,000 annual salary during his suspension, and Hall collected her $75,800 salary. May said state law doesn’t allow the county to try and claw back their pay.
Walton’s attorney, Art Leach, didn’t return a phone call seeking comment. Hall’s attorney, Bill Thomas, said he didn’t have any comment.
When Walton took the witness stand over four days of testimony two weeks ago, he admitted lying when he told a special grand jury he said he didn’t solicit unpaid work from a landscaper who had a tree removal contract with the county at the same time.
He wasn’t asked about his relationship with MME, which has more than $14 million in contracts on the DeKalb sewer overhaul, according to county records.
The company’s president, Barry Bennett, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.
Bennett is one of three DeKalb contractors who gave Walton money to pay Hall as she was having financial difficulties, Hall said in her testimony to the special grand jury.
During the Ellis trial, Walton testified he collected $600 each from three vendors, and pitched in $600 himself, to help out Hall.
District Attorney Robert James has said he didn’t consider the payments to Hall to be criminal.
“She took it, but there’s absolutely 100 percent no evidence she did it in exchange for anything,” James said in a recorded conversation with Thomas played in court during Ellis’ trial. “Nina did something wrong, and to the extent she was taking money from these people, it wasn’t illegal. I consider it a breach of the county’s ethics code.”
Walton testified that the money was a gift to a friend who was having trouble making payments on her house.
“If it was a bribe, I would not have told Nina to call and give them a thank you note,” Walton said.
Jurors will resume their deliberations in Ellis’ trial Wednesday morning after hearing three weeks of testimony.
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