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Ex-GBI agent pleads guilty to misusing state credit card

Former GBI agent Sandra Putnam was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to purchasing some $60,000 in personal expenses on her state-issued credit card. Photo: WSB-TV
Former GBI agent Sandra Putnam was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to purchasing some $60,000 in personal expenses on her state-issued credit card. Photo: WSB-TV
By Rhonda Cook
Dec 11, 2017

A former Georgia Bureau of Investigation inspector was sentenced to probation on Monday after she pleaded guilty to charging up to $60,000 worth of clothes, electronics and furniture to her state-issued credit card.

Sandra Putnam pleaded guilty to racketeering and violating the oath of a public officials, which could bring sentences of up to 20 years in prison. But DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Clarence Seeliger said all that was mitigated by 23 years as a law enforcement officer. 

Putnam’s sentence was less than even her lawyer had requested.

Since Putnam was sentenced under the Georgia First Offender Act, her state pension remains intact and her certification as a peace officer is not automatically terminated.

Read more about the personal items Putnam bought with the state credit card and how she managed to carry on the scheme for three years at myAJC.com.

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