A former Gwinnett County prosecutor was indicted this week, accused of continuing work as a defense attorney after taking on his new role with the local solicitor’s office.
Greg McKeithen, 57, was indicted Wednesday on a total of 10 counts: eight charges of computer invasion of privacy and single charges of theft by taking and violation of oath by public officer.
McKeithen’s attorney, Kirby Clements Jr., said his client is not a criminal.
“The previous false allegation has somehow morphed into a multi-count indictment,” Clements wrote in an email to the AJC. “He will, again, be exonerated.”
The investigation into McKeithen started in May, when a defendant in Hall County reportedly told a judge there that he'd hired McKeithen as a defense attorney. McKeithen had been hired in January to work as an assistant solicitor in the Gwinnett County Solicitor's Office, which prosecutes misdemeanor cases.
It is illegal to work in private practice while also employed as a government prosecutor.
Investigators seized McKeithen’s cellphones and reportedly discovered that he’d used a computer network that’s meant only for prosecutors to look up information about cases for which he was serving as a defense attorney.
The indictment includes a computer-related charge for each of the eight occasions in which McKeithen allegedly accessed the private network.
The theft by taking charge is related to McKeithen accepting his salary from Gwinnett County while allegedly being in violation of the oath he took before becoming a prosecutor.
“Greg has been a lawyer for nearly 30 years and honorably served as a prosecutor and a military lawyer during Operation Iraqi Freedom and is of impeccable character,” Clements, McKeithen’s attorney, said. “He is not and never has been a criminal.”
Gwinnett County jail records show McKeithen turned himself in Thursday afternoon and was later released on $27,700 bond.
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