Former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill was smiling and in the same bright blue suit he was wearing the last time he was free when he walked out of jail Friday.
For two days after Hill was indicted on 37 felony counts accusing him of misusing public and campaign funds, his attorney tried to find a way to get him freed. Hill has no property to use as collateral for his bond; he filed for bankruptcy in December 2008. And he didn’t have $50,000 to cover the entire bond.
JAM Bonding Co. in Jonesboro ultimately posted the bond, which would have required Hill to produce about $6,000, according to Sheriff Kem Kimbrough, Hill’s successor in office. It was not immediately known where Hill got the money to cover his share of the bond.
Hill’s attorney and supporters had claimed politics -- and not Hill's finances -- was the reason Hill had trouble securing a bond. The allegation was that the six companies certified to provide bond for Clayton County defendants had been threatened by “law enforcement” that their ability to operate could be compromised if they helped Hill get released.
Kimbrough said he asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into those claims. GBI spokesman John Bankhead said the request was received late Thursday, and it was not yet known how long the independent investigation would take.
“The allegation just kept getting spread,” Kimbrough said. “I wanted to put it to rest.”
Kimbrough said he made the decision after a state senator and the local head of Rainbow PUSH Coalition visited him Thursday afternoon.
Even while Hill was wearing the green jail jumpsuit he was given for his two days in the Gwinnett County Detention Center -- an alternative to putting him in the jail he once ran -- he continued to insist he was innocent and simply the victim of politics. Hill has announced that he will try to reclaim the office he lost to Kimbrough in 2008, and Kimbrough is running for re-election this year.
But on Friday, uncharacteristically, Hill had nothing to say to waiting media outside the jail.
A driver, standing head and shoulders above Hill, met him in the lobby of the jail just minutes after 3 p.m. The driver handed Hill a cellphone and then cleared the way for the former sheriff to get past reporters and photographers and into the back seat of a black Cadillac Escalade.
Hill carried a brown paper bag and gave a thumbs up to a man shouting, “Keep your head up, Victor Hill! Keep your head up, baby!”
The only thing he said was “good” when a reporter asked how he was doing.
On Wednesday, a Clayton County grand jury indicted Hill on 37 counts of racketeering, theft by taking, violating his oath of office, making a false statement and influencing a witness.
The indictment was the product of an investigation that began as Hill, a onetime homicide detective and state representative, was leaving office, having lost his race for a second four-year term.
According to the indictment, Hill freely used county cars, credit cards and his staff for his personal benefit. He allegedly drove a county SUV or Dodge Charger to out-of-state vacations. He is accused of using the county’s credit cards to buy gas for those trips and to shop while vacationing. He allegedly assigned his employees to campaign work even though they were supposed to be working for the county. And Hill is charged with transferring campaign funds to businesses he owned.
His tenure as sheriff, for the most part, was controversial. It began with the firing of 27 employees who were escorted off county property with snipers positioned on the roof. He was the defendant of several lawsuits brought because of his actions in office: The county’s insurance covered one $7 million settlement, but the others are listed as debts on his bankruptcy filing.
Hill said he still plans to run for sheriff this year, despite the indictment. He would be ineligible to hold office only if he is convicted.
The four racketeering counts carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison for each charge. He is charged with 29 counts of theft by taking, which could mean up to 15 years in prison for each count. And the remaining charges -- two counts of making a false statement and one count each of violation of oath by a public officer and influencing a witness -- have a maximum punishment of five years for each.
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