Search warrants were issued Tuesday for email conversations involving Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May and two former county officials.
The search warrants from DeKalb Superior Court allege that the emails may contain information about crimes of conspiracy and false statements. Based on the date range of emails being sought, the warrants involve the probe into a $4,000 check written to May by an Alpharetta company in 2011.
Investigators want emails from May, former Deputy Chief Operating Officer Morris Williams and former Procurement Director Kelvin Walton, who was a key witness in the conviction of suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis. May released copies of the warrants to the news media Tuesday afternoon.
“I share the sentiments of everyone who wants to get to the bottom of corruption and wrongdoing, and these search warrants are a step in this process. Personally, I have nothing to hide; and there will be nothing in my email to suggest I have done anything wrong,” May said in a statement.
Earlier this year, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News found that Alpharetta-based Water Removal Services wrote a $4,000 check to May after making $6,500 in sewer damage repairs at his home, at taxpayers’ expense.
Later that year, the company won a $300,000 county contract. May, a commissioner at the time, insists he knew nothing about the check and never received a dollar of the money.
But Doug Cotter, the man who arranged the home repairs and once organized a campaign fundraiser for May, said it was intended to help May with his personal financial problems.
Cotter says he gave the money to former County Commission Chief of Staff Morris Williams.
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