A former state Senate candidate accused of being a con man, was indicted this week on one count of racketeering and 27 counts of theft by taking.
Brian Roslund allegedly swindled a charity, Georgia citizens and some powerful politicians. His actions came to light when a state audit found he took money from a charity and Channel 2 Action News uncovered a checkered past in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors, who released a 23-page indictment Tuesday, allege Roslund participated in a calculated scheme. The indictment reads, "the accused engaged in a scheme to get elected... and then conducted and participated in the enterprise through a pattern of theft, deception and false documents."
Roslund lost a 2014 race for the 29th District against State Sen. Josh McKoon, a popular GOP incumbant from Columbus.
In February, Channel 2 Action News reported a state audit found Roslund stole $11,000 dollars from a charity, The Friends of the Little White House.
The indictment says Roslund used the money from the charity to pay for campaign expenses including a residence he rented in the 29th District.
Roslund is also accused of defrauding the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission by filing false, fictitious, and fraudulent campaign contribution disclosure reports and falsifying campaign donation amounts and the names of donors.
The document says he creating the appearance that he had $52,000 dollars in campaign contributions and had spent thousands of dollars on campaign related costs and had thousands of dollars of "cash on hand."
Prosecutors told a grand jury Roslund wrote nearly $7,600 dollars in checks on closed bank accounts or accounts with insufficient funds.
Documentation shows he wrote several of those checks to people who assisted him with his campaign.
Sign maker Robert McKinnon told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Erica Byfield that Roslund sent him two bad checks
"You expect someone like that to have morals, but it turns out this guy is a full on con-man," McKinnon said.
Roslund will be arraigned June 11 at 9 a.m. in Meriwether County.
If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
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