[CPProt.net] Sentencing due in middle Georgia library corruption case. He faces prison, fines in middle Georgia libraries scam.

[Ton Cremers]

 Sentencing due in middle Georgia library corruption case

He faces prison, fines in middle Georgia libraries scam.

Larry Peterson
912.652.0367
larry.peterson at savannahnow.com

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David C. Wilson will be sentenced Jan. 26 on seven federal felony counts stemming from a 
middle Georgia library corruption case.

A jury convicted the former director of the Eastman-based Ocmulgee Regional Library 
system Oct. 7 on five counts of theft and one of tampering with a grand jury witness.

Wilson, who remains free on bond, faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up 
to $250,000 on each count.

His attorneys plan to appeal at least some of the convictions but concede that it is unlikely 
that he will be allowed to remain free pending the outcome.

The case made headlines in national library publications and sent shudders through the 
ranks of librarians around the state.

Witnesses said Wilson raided library accounts of tens of thousands of dollars.

Others said he stole library construction materials, had library employees do personal chores 
for him and his family, and extracted kickbacks from a worker. In addition, witnesses said, 
Wilson pressured that worker not to tell a federal grand jury what he knew.

Still others testified that while Wilson was Georgia's top-paid public library official, Ocmulgee 
devoted a smaller part of its funds to buying books than any system in Georgia.

The sentence will be meted out by U.S. District Court Judge Dudley Bowen Jr., who presided 
over the trial.

In making his decision, Bowen is expected to consider a pre-sentencing report by a federal 
probation official who attended the trial. The report has not been made public.

Page Pate, one of Wilson's attorneys, said the sentence will hinge heavily on the amount of 
losses Wilson is determined to have caused.

Pate said he has disputed the amount of losses the pre-sentencing report calculated and will 
present witnesses Jan. 26 to contest that figure.

He also said he'll ask that Wilson remain free pending the designation of a federal prison 
where he'll serve his sentence. That can take six to eight weeks, Pate said.

Pate said he will argue in the appeal that there was insufficient evidence to convict Wilson 
and that much of evidence prosecutors presented was inadmissible.


http://www.savannahnow.com/stories/011206/3557081.shtml