Corruption cases handled by District Attorney Robert James
- Suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis was found guilty of attempted extortion and perjury in July, and he was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison. Ellis first trial last fall ended with a hung jury.
- Former schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis pleaded guilty to misdemeanor obstruction under a deal with prosecutors, and a jury found former DeKalb schools Chief Operating Officer Pat Reid and architect Tony Pope guilty in November 2013 for their involvement in a school construction scandal. Lewis' case is being appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, and Reid and Pope are serving five-year sentences.
- Bob Lundsten, the former chief of staff for Commissioner Elaine Boyer, was indicted in April on charges he abused his county purchasing card. His case is pending.
- A special purpose grand jury recommended criminal investigations of a dozen former government officials, employees and contractors. Only Ellis has faced charges, and James' office is conducting a review of the allegations.
How we got the story
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has been vigorously covering government corruption in DeKalb County, including the prosecutions of suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis, former Commissioner Elaine Boyer and former schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis.
The DeKalb Commission in July withheld funding sought by District Attorney Robert James to hire more attorneys and investigators in his public integrity unit. Some commissioners said at the time the county needed to move on from years of scandal, and they questioned whether taxpayer money was being well spent.
The commission reversed itself Tuesday and released $186,000 for James to begin hiring additional staff and step up corruption investigations. They took action amid ongoing investigations by James, the FBI, the GBI, the Board of Ethics and outside special investigators.
As allegations of corruption continue to plague DeKalb County, its chief prosecutor is gaining more resources to investigate possible misconduct.
District Attorney Robert James, who has said he lacked adequate resources to fully investigate all the complaints, will soon hire more staff dedicated to the task.
The DeKalb Commission unanimously approved funding Tuesday for five employees — attorneys, investigators and paralegals — for James’ corruption-busting efforts. The $186,000 appropriation covers their salaries for the rest of the year. The positions will cost about $493,000 annually if the commission continues to fund them.
James said he'll now be able to more aggressively investigate a flood of corruption accusations, including those contained in a special purpose grand jury's report issued two years ago. That report recommended criminal investigations of 12 government contractors and officials, including suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis. Ellis was convicted in July of attempted extortion and perjury after a monthlong trial, but the others haven't faced charges.
“I’m still drowning, and I’ve just been thrown a life preserver,” James said after the vote. “We’ll take the resources that have been granted to our office today and we’ll put them in action.”
The commission had denied James' funding request just two months ago.
At the time, several commissioners questioned whether James was doing enough with the resources he had.
“He has a big job to do, and he needs the funding to do it,” said Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton, who pushed for the additional money.
Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson said that she previously had questions about whether additional money needed to be spent on James and outside special investigators hired by Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May. Johnson said Tuesday she supports James' work but remains concerned about whether the ongoing inquiry by former Georgia Attorney General Mike Bowers and investigator Richard Hyde is a good use of taxpayer money.
Bowers and Hyde have no subpoena power, she pointed out, “and I’ve always said that an external auditor could do what the special investigators are doing for a fraction of the cost.”
Though the commission restored funding for James, it didn’t take action on $500,000 May requested in July to pay for Bowers and Hyde’s investigation. Funding likely will have to come from money the commission budgeted in other areas under May’s control.
The investigators said last month that DeKalb's government is "rotten to the core" and indicated some employees are guilty of bribery, theft and purchasing card abuse. Bowers has said the two plan to release their final report by Oct. 6. The investigators charged DeKalb $673,504 for work performed through June.
Commissioner Kathie Gannon said she was disappointed that James hasn’t moved faster to prosecute corruption cases. She cited the conviction of former Commissioner Elaine Boyer, who pleaded guilty in federal court to bilking taxpayers of more than $85,000 while James was still investigating.
The commission initially approved money for James to increase his staff last year, but he didn’t spend it immediately and the commissioners removed the funding in February.
“We want to try again to hold the district attorney to the request we made when we first funded these positions — to move forward with investigations,” Gannon said. “This is another chance for him to do that.”
But James said he’s had his hands full with the trial and a retrial of Ellis, school officials accused of illegally awarding construction contracts and several smaller corruption cases.
He said the additional staff also will allow his office to more quickly evaluate whether to seek charges against police officers who are involved in shootings. DeKalb police have been involved in at least four controversial shootings over the past two years.
The district attorney’s Public Integrity and Organized Crime Division currently has four attorneys, three investigators and two paralegals.
“With the cloud hanging over DeKalb, it’s not a time to limit our capacity to investigate,” said Commissioner Jeff Rader.
About the Author
