Trial of indicted Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias gets go-ahead after pretrial conference
Both sides appeared ready to begin the federal trial July 26 of indicted Augusta commissioner Sammie Sias at a Thursday pretrial conference in U.S. District Court.
Sias, 68, is accused of destroying hundreds of pages of evidence and lying to an FBI agent during a 2019 investigation of the misuse of sales tax funds. He's been suspended from office since last year.
At the conference, Chief U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall of the Southern District of Georgia ruled on motions recently filed by assistant U.S. Attorneys Patricia G. Rhodes and Tara M. Lyons. One motion was to exclude evidence Sias' attorneys, Kenneth D. Crowder and David Stewart, both former federal prosecutors, hoped to present.
Last year: What explains city inaction on indicted Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias?
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The evidence was obtained during what Crowder described as a three-hour "interrogation" by government agents Aug. 8, 2019, the day they executed a search warrant and removed numerous boxes of items and computers from Sias' house.
Lyons said Sias' attorneys only sought to introduce what was a "self-serving statement" to try to prove Sias' innocence without subjecting him to cross-examination at trial. Crowder questioned why prosecutors wanted to exclude statements from that day but not the next, when Sias is accused of lying to investigators.
Hall agreed to the exclusion, saying he'd heard no reason Thursday to allow the statement refuting Lyons' claim it was an effort "to show the defendant in this case is innocent."
Hall also agreed with the prosecutors' motion to introduce information about the underlying investigation. Sias hasn't been charged with any misuse of public funds, which were paid to the Sandridge Community Association, a neighborhood association Sias founded and controlled, for the purpose of renovating a community center.
"What they want to get into is misuse of SPLOST funds," Crowder said, "a fishing expedition on unindicted charges."
Lyons said the background was needed to show why the alleged false statement was material, or impacted the course of the investigation.
"When we present the 900 pages of deleted files," it will show the documents were things like "invoices" and not irrelevant materials, she said.
Hall warned prosecutors to "limit that evidence to what is really necessary" to help jurors understand the charges against Sias.
Thousands of bank records subpoenaed
Previous coverage: Filing indicates who spoke to grand jury, scope of evidence in case against Sammie Sias
In case you missed it: Sias seeks more time for defense in federal prosecution, taxpayers still paying
Stewart raised several questions about the prosecutors' recent court filings attempting to introduce financial records into evidence that were formally "certified" by bank and other financial officials rather than bringing the officials to Augusta to testify they were authentic. It's a common practice intended to save time and money.
Stewart questioned one filing certifying the process used by FBI forensic investigator Charles McStotts because it came from McStotts, a witness prosecutors also intend to testify. Hall said the prosecutors' filings appeared appropriate but said the parties could reconvene at 4 p.m. Thursday if they needed to further discuss the filings.
Prosecutors filed the notices earlier this week showing their intent to present at trial thousands of pages of financial records subpoenaed from banks, credit unions, credit card companies and retailers.
The subpoenas each were issued after the day agents searched Sias' house, and sought account info and records under Sias' name, his election account and Sandridge. The institutions subpoenaed were were Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Discover, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Army and Air Force Exchange Service and Wal-Mart, according to the filings.
From Bank of America the documents included checks for $75,000 and $71,250 dated in April and June of 2014, the year before Sias took office. A third check for $3,750 was dated February 2015. Each was made out to the Sandridge Community Association and deposited by Sias into one of two Wells Fargo accounts. City check records show the payments came from Sales Tax 6 funds.
A September 2019 Wells Fargo subpoena, where Sias or Sandridge had three credit cards and a line of credit, resulted in more than 5,000 pages of records, according to the notices. A November 2020 subpoena to Army and Air Force Exchange, where Sias had a credit card, resulted in 585 pages of records.
Trial expected to last less than 3 days
The conference, held inside the wood-paneled historic main courtroom of the U.S. District Court courthouse, lasted approximately 90 minutes. Sias sat motionless throughout and said nothing, but waved to reporters on his way in.
Jury selection is set to begin July 26. Hall said he expected it and preliminary statements in the case to be completed by lunchtime, with opening statements after lunch. He placed no time limit on the opening statements. Lyons told the court she expected the trial to last two to two-and-a-half days.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Sias, Feds ready for Augusta trial on evidence destruction, lying to FBI
