‘My work, it spoke for itself’: Commissioner found guilty of obstruction, lying to agent

Correction: The trial jury was misidentified in an earlier version of this article. It has been updated.

A federal jury found Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias guilty Friday on charges he destroyed evidence and lied to a federal investigator during an FBI probe of sales tax spending at Jamestown Community Center.

Each of the charges carries up to a 10-year prison sentence, but sentencing will take place at a later date. Sias, 67, remains free on bond until sentencing and told reporters he hadn't decided whether to fight the conviction.

FBI agents testified this week that Sias began deleting files from his laptop computer minutes after being served with a grand jury subpoena for bank records, in August 2019. In about a minute, some 7,000 were deleted, many containing words such as "Jamestown" or "SPLOST," the sales tax acronym.

Four days later on Aug. 9, 2019, a day after agents executed a search warrant at his house, Sias told FBI Special Agent Charles McKee he had turned over all records being sought by authorities, but he hadn't, McKee said.

The charges, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, stemmed from Sias' role as president of a homeowner's association, the Sandridge Community Association, which in 2014 was awarded $150,000 in special purpose, local option sales taxes to perform upgrades at Jamestown.

The case highlighted the local government's lack of oversight of groups receiving the funds. Sias, who took office in 2015, obtained the money without having to submit a single receipt for goods or services.

"My work, it spoke for itself," Sias said, taking the stand in his own defense Friday. He'd shown progress on the upgrades - a new roof, the purchase of computers and professional kitchen equipment - to association board members as well as the city officials to whom he submitted invoices, he said, because the city had "no system of receipts," Sias said.

While bank records showed Sias had transferred a total of $137,000 of the $150,000 to his personal account, assistant U.S. attorneys Patricia Rhodes and Tara Lyons contended the missing records effectively blocked the investigation.

FBI forensic accountant Megan Poelking testified that despite looking at numerous records obtained from banks, the city and a handful of known vendors, the shortage of documentation prevented her from conducting a forensic audit of the sales tax spending.

McKee, lead agent in the case, said he was informed of potential misuse of public funds in July 2019 by Augusta Commissioner Brandon Garrett, who forwarded him a letter written by former Jamestown center manager Willa Hilton. Hilton sent commissioners a seven-page letter accusing Sias of creating false invoices and writing checks for cash to pocket the sales tax funds.

Hilton, whom Sias' defense attorneys David Stewart and Ken Crowder had subpoenaed to testify but did not take the stand, had long served as Sias' second hand in the association, co-signing invoices he submitted to the city on behalf of Sandridge. After the letter surfaced, Sias announced he and Hilton, his next-door neighbor, had been having an extramarital affair for 20 years.

Both prosecution and defense had subpoenaed Augusta Parks and Recreation Director Maurice McDowell to testify, and the defense called him to speak Friday. McDowell served as the SPLOST project coordinator for the department from 2011 until 2016 and described himself as a "liaison" between the city and non-government entities receiving sales-tax funds.

Questioned by Lyons, McDowell said Sias had never provided him records of any vendors he'd used and told him that receipts were not required. He'd kept printed-out emails and Sias' invoices in a notebook. Questioned by Stewart, McDowell said he never asked Sias for receipts.

Taking the stand Friday afternoon, Sias described having to pick crops in rural Cordele, Ga., as a child and losing his father in a farming accident when he was 13. He joined the Army in 1974 and retired 28 years later as a sergeant major. In 1987, still on active duty he bought his house in the Sandridge community, just outside Fort Gordon's Gate 5, and helped found the association in 1991. He'd remained president every year until 2019 except for two years he was stationed outside Augusta.

The association eyed Jamestown, about a mile away, in part because "the city had abandoned it," Sias said. The group successfully lobbied for a sales tax allocation to complete an addition to the building in 2010. It also occupied a special status that allowed it not to seek competitive bids and choose its own vendors, he said.

Sias claimed he used his personal credit card to make purchases for the center because the city wouldn't provide Sandridge with a tax-exempt card. As a government, the city doesn't pay sales taxes on purchases. By using his own card, Sias said he could obtain a military and other discounts.

Lyons noted that Sias kept detailed  summer camp records dating to 2001 as well as other records on the laptop yet did not keep any receipts. Why, she asked? "We have the product that we put together," he said.

In her closing, Lyons said despite his efforts at the center, he obstructed justice by failing to cooperate with investigators.

"Sometimes good, hardworking people do illegal things," she said.

The jury took approximately two hours to reach a verdict.

Previously: Augusta commissioner's ex-lover subpoenaed to testify in upcoming corruption case

And: Sammie Sias trial starts: Augusta leaders, elected officials may testify

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias found guilty of obstruction, lying to FBI