Seven Atlanta Watershed employees were indicted Friday, accused of stealing copper wire and other items from the department.
It is the latest in a string of issues that have plagued the Watershed department in recent years.
The thefts of copper, copper tubing, red and yellow brass and water meters occurred between 2009 and 2015, a statement from the Fulton County District Attorney’s office said.
The workers could each face up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
They allegedly sold the items to a scrap yard in Smyrna in exchange for $163,091.50 in cash. The scrap yard that bought the stolen materials was discovered in October 2014 by an investigator in the Atlanta auditor's office. Reports from the scrap yard connected the defendants to the stolen items, the statement said.
Indicted are: Reginald White, Charles Edwards, Larry Tyler, Antonio Denson, William Spaulding, Aaron Avery and Corey Green. They are all charged with Theft by Conversion by Government Employee.
All those indicted had been arrested in 2015 related to thefts. At the time, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement that police had his support in the investigation.
“Unlawful activity will not be tolerated in my administration, and swift action will be taken to protect the taxpayers and residents of the city of Atlanta,” he said.
More than a dozen Watershed employees were fired the year before while investigations into thefts at the department continued. Then, leaders had discovered that hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment had been stolen or was missing. The items include 28 industrial water meters weighing 700 pounds and worth $5,210 apiece, copper, pipes and more, according to police reports. A missing backhoe was worth $80,000.
Jo Ann Macrina, the commissioner of the city's Department of Watershed Management who took over in 2011, was removed last spring.
“I think most everything we reported is a management failing,” auditor Leslie Ward told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the time of the audit.
About the Author
