Two men pleaded guilty Thursday to reduced charges based on allegations they were involved in a scheme to steal $4,000 from DeKalb County's government by forging former CEO Lee May's name on a check.
Former DeKalb Deputy Chief Operating Officer Morris Williams and contractor Doug Cotter agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors to resolve the case.
Cotter will reimburse $4,000 to the county government. In addition, Cotter and Williams will pay $1,000 fines, serve one year on probation and work 80 hours of community service.
The case arose from repairs to May's home as a result of a December 2010 raw sewage spill that flooded his basement.
Cotter was working for Alpharetta-based Water Removal Services and charged the county $6,500 to fix May’s floors. Cotter has said Williams told him to bill the county for that amount, even though he had agreed to do the work at cost, or $2,500.
Cotter wrote the $4,000 check — representing the difference between the amounts — to May, which he didn’t cash. Williams then returned the check to Cotter, who cashed it at a liquor store owned by his family. It’s unclear what happened to the money afterward.
May, who left office in December, has said he never received the money or signed the check.
Both Cotter and Williams had been facing felony charges with maximum sentences of 30 years imprisonment, but Senior Assistant District Attorney Chris Timmons said in court the reduced penalty was appropriate. Timmons told Superior Court Judge Daniel Coursey he wanted to resolve the case because of potential issues such as having to disclose a confidential source during a trial and the statute of limitations.
Cotter pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by taking. Though Cotter is repaying the money, he entered what’s known as an Alford plea. In an Alford plea, a defendant maintains his innocence but acknowledges it’s in his best interest to enter the plea.
Williams pleaded guilty to a charge of obstruction of an officer as a result of an interview with the FBI about the case in 2015.
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