Sandra Putnam was savvy with computers, having run the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s internet crimes against children unit. She once led the bureau’s financial fraud unit, so she knew accounting. Those skills earned her respect within the GBI and a coveted, elite position in its chain of command, where she earned more than $100,000 a year as an inspector.
They also helped her enjoy a free-wheeling spending spree funded by tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
Putnam was sentenced in December to 10 years of probation after pleading guilty to racketeering and violating her oath of office.
So why did the state’s premier law enforcement organization fail to detect stealing in their midst?
New records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution through an open records request show some low-level GBI employees had suspicions for years about Putnam’s lavish spending. An internal investigation blamed a “culture of internal trust” at the GBI, saying the bureau failed to take action against one of its own despite multiple red flags.
At least six employees, from secretaries to supervisors, told their bosses of their concerns about Putnam, but that information never made it up the GBI hierarchy, the state Office of Inspector General wrote. A member of Putnam’s staff even provided one GBI supervisor with a backpack filled with receipts that concerned him. But nothing happened.
“They didn’t feel there was enough substance there to warrant pushing it up to the command staff on a person who had an excellent reputation and (was) well thought of,” GBI Director Vernon Keenan told The AJC.
“In hindsight, they realized that was wrong,” said Keenan, who said he didn’t learn of the problem until he received a call in 2016 from the state’s inspector general. She was suspended the next day.
Chaise lounges, a golf bag and a sectional sofa
Putnam’s downfall began with a simple key word search. The Georgia Department of Administrative Services — making a routine fraud check of GBI purchasing card charges — looked for the word “sandals.” Up popped Putnam’s account.
What investigators would uncover was a scheme that had gone on for years and involved involved Putnam's P-card as well as cards assigned to seven other GBI employees. When those cards maxed out, she would instruct her co-workers to have the credit limits increased so she could keep buying, masking purchases by listing them in official paperwork as something else.
There was a $930 leather sectional sofa that was reported to have been anti-virus software. A “cat tower” costing $47.95 was claimed as a waterproof bag. A storage rack for her kitchen pantry door was claimed as a computer headset. The $399 she charged for chaise lounges to go around her backyard pool was reported to be for an IPad. A University of Georgia golf bag she bought for her-then boyfriend, now husband, was claimed to be shoes “typically worn by GBI agents,” costing $136.99.
The sandals that kicked off the investigation were reported as a pair of pants that GBI agents wear.
Records show Putnam didn’t only purchase things for herself but also bought high-end running gear — shirts, shorts, socks, gloves, pink sunglasses, sweatshirts — for 38 co-workers to wear at events like the Peachtree Road Race, the Dirty Girl Mud Run and other road races. To those who asked questions, Putnam falsely claimed the cost of the gear was covered by a sponsor or agency because the event was GBI-sanctioned, or she said she had a contact at the manufacturer who gave her a break on the cost.
She ordered items from Amazon, Athleta Inc., The Clymb, Title Nine, and Under Armour. The price tags ranged from $4 to almost $1,600.
She skirted detection by submitting paper rather than electronic receipts and altering the paper documents to misrepresent was purchased and to make it appear that it was shipped to GBI headquarters instead of her home.
Confronted with the evidence against her, Putnam resigned in lieu of termination in August 2016. She was arrested less than two weeks later.
“I’ve just been in a dark place,” Putnam told GBI agent J.T. Ricketson, who conducted the criminal investigation at the time, “There’s nothing else to say, J.T. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it.”
She cried. And said her life was ruined.
“Common practice… going on for years”
Records gathered for an internal GBI investigation as well as those the state Attorney General’s Office assembled as it prepared to prosecute Putnam show she shopped with impunity.
“People are talking about it like it was a common practice that has been going on for years,” Ricketson said during one of the recorded interviews in the files reviewed by the AJC.
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Putnam began her shopping spree in 2013 and exploited gaps in the GBI’s system.
Former GBI deputy director Rusty Andrews, Putnam’s then-boss, had turned over the responsibility for approving expense reports to his secretary, who was Putnam’s sister. Once, Putnam lectured her sister when she questioned some expenses for a race, records show.
“I understand Sandra was intimidating her,” Andrews said in a recorded interview with Ricketson. “Sandra would routinely tell her ‘Rusty knows. Rusty knows.’ I can assure you Rusty did not know.”
GBI officials say the case has been a wake up call and they have made changes in its wake.
The GBI has taken away all but 90 of the 376 P-cards that had been handed out to employees. Top-level GBI officials are no longer issued purchasing cards, and each unit within the agency is limited to one or two P-cards, depending on the mission. Supervisors can no longer delegate the job of signing off on expense reports to a subordinate.
It now takes two people to sign off in advance on all planned purchases. Purchases of more than $1,000 must be first approved by DOAS and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget.
“We’ve completely modernized our purchasing card process based on this case,” Keenan said.
“Not The Average Common Criminal”
When she pleaded guilty to racketeering and violation of her oath of office late last year she was facing a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Assistant Attorney General Blair McGowan suggested eight years in prison and then 12 years on probation. Putnam’s attorney, Mario Ninfo, asked for six years on probation with her first 30 days spent in the DeKalb County jail and then two years on home confinement.
Judge Clarence Seeliger, however, said Putnam’s two-plus decades of “honorable service” warranted a softer touch.
She was sentenced to 10 years on probation, which would be terminated once she has completed 200 hours of community service and repaid the $60,268.04. Sentenced as a first offender, she will not have a criminal record if she completes those requirements.
Ninfo told the AJC that Putnam has performed the last of the required community service this week and she paid all the restitution.
He said Putnam now works for minimum wage at the landscaping business owned by one of her sisters.
“There’s nothing left to do,” Ninfo said. “This is a lady who gave 20-plus years of impeccable service to the community. This is not the average common criminal I’ve represented over the years.”
The Story So Far:
2013: Sandra Putnam says she began using her state-issued purchasing card for personal purchases
2016: State auditors making a routine fraud check detect unusual activity on Putnam’s P-card account; An investigation uncover at more than $100,000 of inappropriate purchases
2017: Putnam pleads guilty to charges of racketeering and violating her oath of office in connection with more than $60,000 of those fraudulent expenses; She is sentenced to 10 years probation — a lighter penalty than even her own attorney had sought
2018: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtains the state’s internal and criminal investigative files through open records requests; Putnam completes her required community service and pays back the money
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