I guess it was all just to much. Seven hours into jury deliberations, Buie changes his plea to guilty in what has been described as a “teary-eyed” confession to Judge Denise Marshal. As a result he gets a year in jail, has to pay $5000 in restitution, can’t work for a government entity again, and is banished from Dougherty County.
It’s not close to enough, but it beats what looked like was going to happen.
The deal was apparently offered in response to the jury being deadlocked several hours earlier, with the District Attorney’s office fearing a mistrial. Buie took the offer, and told the judge that he used his position to funnel money to Shanon Buie and Nicole Brown. His attorney, Johnny Graham, said that he knew this wasn’t “proper”. And yet, he did it.
Poor supervision at all levels has to hold the ultimate blame for what Buie did. Let’s face it, this wasn’t some brilliant scam that we could excuse local officials from catching due to the complex nature and perfect forgeries of invoices that made everything look legitimate. Oh no. This was a guy just asking for checks…and getting them.
First and foremost, if any City Commission wants to pretend to give a flip about preventing this kind of thing again, then Al Lott needs to be relocated. I’m thinking somewhere the hell away from here. We have enough problems in this town without having to worry about whether Lott is keeping a better handle on his subordinates than he has in the past. Frankly, I don’t see it happening. He’s more concerned if someone is answering “interrogatories” from the press than if his people are…oh, I don’t know…stealing from the city?
Next, ADICA needs to go. While some may still argue that downtown needs all this taxpayer money, the damage is done with ADICA. While I’ve applauded acting CEO James Taylor’s efforts, it’s still damaged goods and no one is going to trust ADICA no matter who’s in charge. If, and I’m still not convinced, but if downtown needs an authority to manage redevelopment, then start fresh.
Also, kill the $6 million bond. After all of this, we’re still stuck having to trust officials with our money? These same officials who didn’t bother to look at invoices (some of which didn’t exist) under Buie? Sorry, that’s just not goig to cut it. If the bond is defaulted on, the taxpayers are going to have to foot the bill…but we aren’t even told what the heck it’s going to be spent for. Remember, it’s all a secret.
The Buie trial is over. The effects of Hurricane Don still linger.
A potentially hung jury in this case speaks volumes to Albany’s core problems. I don’t have much of a problem with the sentence although the $5000 is a joke and banishment laughable. I assume they wanted the penalty to sound more severe than 6 to 8 months in jail. So justice has been served and we’re back to business as usual. ADICA still exists, Ms. Woods still has her illegal interest free loan (if it gets pay back), hiring practices in local government (to my knowledge) are unchanged, and the $6 million is just waiting to be spread around with NO professional input whatsoever. Merry Christmas in the Good Life City……………..
Didn’t I tell you it would be a whitewash/scapegoating?
If they were serious, they would have requested federal involvement. This was done to get the issue off the front page with the added benefit (to the DA) of a shot at some PR.
Did anyone read the Herald Editorial about “moving forward”?? What a laugh.
There was NO way ANY impartial jury could convict Buie on the majority of charges! You have to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty, and to do that with the testimony of people who in the trial admitted to lying be it coersion or otherwise was not the route to take. Once a liar always a liar no way could I ever 100% believe anyone who admitted to lying about the case once.
The DA’s office needs to go back to law school, There should be one Albany city council, and one dougherty county board. If they want to do something about downtown then do it themselves. Otherwise charge the community leaders to set up their own not-for0profit and do it themselves.
It’s amazing how the people of albany are willing to spend other peoples tax dollars, but not their own for something they believe in.
The “FEDS” had no reason to get involved in the case, hell for that matter neither did the GBI, The Albany PD, and Sheriff’s Dept., should have been capable of handeling any investigation.
Oh what’s this they aren’t? Seems to me that this also speaks volumes about a City of around 100K that doesn’t even have a competent police force? Where are we wasting our taxdollars?
“The “FEDS” had no reason to get involved in the case, hell for that matter neither did the GBI, The Albany PD, and Sheriff’s Dept., should have been capable of handeling any investigation.”
You are misinformed, because if you think the local people had either the ability or willingness to pursue this matter, I have a bridge to sell you.
Tim,
I’m pretty slow and I apologize for that but I can’t figure out from your posts what your position is on the Buie case. Could you try again? Is there fault in the case? Buie, government, citizens, DA’s office, none of the above.
Jack,
You sound a little uptight this morning may I suggest you run down to our new outdoor fitness facility at the Jackson Heights Fitness and Wellness Center and work off your anger on the SPLOST funded 10 station “Fit-Trail” I’m sure the wait time won’t be too long this close to Christmas. Another joke.
Buie may be guilty, but the way the case was handled a mistrial was what was had, I am for a fair justice system that follows law and precidence not someones PR machine.
This case showed how poorly the legal system in SWGA works.
I don’t care wether Buie was guilty or not, the judicial system is the issue here.
The case should have gone to a grand jury before any news leaks happened, plain and simple the fact that that didn’t happen shows ultrior motives.
Jack, I agree with you, but it was a local matter ONLY and if the locals didn’t want to pursue it or weren’t skilled enough therein lies the problem!
“Jack, I agree with you, but it was a local matter ONLY and if the locals didn’t want to pursue it or weren’t skilled enough therein lies the problem!”
He used the wires to transmit stolen money. There’s people in federal prisons now for that. Likewise, he already had a federal record.
But the main point, that of the corruption inherent in the local system, is precisely why the local people shouldn’t be involved. Do you really think this DA’s office wanted to question the circumstances of Buie’s hiring?
Jack is dead on right. We still don’t know how deep corruption goes in this town, and personally I think it’s pretty damn deep. As such, we don’t know who could be trusted to investigate. While I personally trust the heads of all three departments, having known two of them for many, many years, I can’t be so confident in the men under them.
Not only that, but let’s say that the men handling the investigation were good, trustworthy folks who just happen to not find anything. That doesn’t exactly engender a great deal of confidence that there was nothing to find. By letting the GBI investigate, much of that was successfully skirted. More investigation is needed though, and I’m doing what I can.
Unfortunately, it ain’t easy.
So… let me get this right, the more burocrats involved the better the system?
Show me the proof the money he wired was stolen. You would have to prove that before you would need the feds.
Seriously folks, everyone knows how deep the corruption goes and turns their heads. It’s easier that way!
The issue is burden of proof. Innocent until proven guilty. Chris Cohilas made his closing statement, something to the extent of send the people responsible for our tax dollars a warning. THAT right there had nothing to do with Buie being found innocent or guilty and should have been ordered to be disregaured by the jury.
Call me what you want, but until the JUDICIAL branch is fixed the rest of our government never will be. When the Courts started passing laws was when the people lost control of the democracy.
Actually Tim, everyone suspects how deep the corruption goes, but no one really knows for certain. In fact, I suspect it goes deeper than anyone realizes.
I could cut the city of albany’s budget in half in less than 2 years given carte blanche authority to fire anyone suspected of theft or fraud during an audit, no need to file charges and waste the taxpayers dollars. When we deemed a persons cost to outweigh the value of the position… you got it terminated on the spot.
Would I make friends …no
would I cut the budget in half or more and offer the same services…yes
There are few people in this world who have the intestinal fortitude to do what needs to be done. People aren’t garanteed a job based on senority, performance is the key.
At my plant we recently cut 7 people hired 1 funny thing is they are still putting out the same amount of final product and doing it in less time than before!
“Show me the proof the money he wired was stolen. You would have to prove that before you would need the feds.”
Hmmmmm…let’s see…they had the check he gave Nicole and the Moneygram records to make his car payment both of which seem to have been processed within minutes of each other…
The check he gave Nicole bought sound equipment…they never proved it didn’t he may have paid the $2200 out of his account…too many what if’s
If there was no sound equipment you could say yes, but there was, so someone rented it..
You folks are too focused on what the media tells you and have a bias towards him being guilty..step outside the box and think with a clear mind..
And Nicole gave him the check… she was contracted…so is that really stolen funds? If she wired it yes.. but he did, so no.
Lots to consider here that most have overlooked because they just wanted the man to be found guilty and made to rot in prison.
Wrong. The check for the sound equipment was for $350. The check that was wired was for $2200, a check that Nicole Brown admitted was cashed with most of the money being returned to Buie, which is a kickback and illegal. This was not based on what the media told me, but on my own investigation. Look around the site, and you’ll see that in the early days, Kevin Hogencamp at the Journal and I were the only local media covering this at all. WALB, WFXL and the Albany Herald all overlooked much of this until they just couldn’t anymore.
Also, the check for $350 that supposedly rented sound equipment? Yeah, court testimony by the DJ who used that equipment said that it was doubtful they spent $350 to rent what they provided. But even if they overpaid, so what? But that wasn’t the $2200 that started this whole mess.
As for “Nicole gave him the check”, which check are you talking about? The fact was that any check made out to Nicole Brown was supposed to be a payment to her for services rendered. Giving that money back to him would constitute a kickback unless there was another reason (like she also happened to be buying a car from him), which makes me wonder what check you’re talking about.
I think I can agree with Tim if he’s basically saying this isn’t just about Buie. But I think everyone knows that. If the DA said this case should serve as a warning to those responsible for our tax dollars then I agree again. The courts should NOT send signals.
Our problem, Albany’s problem remains the same as before and as interesting as the Buie affair has been it’s probably time to get back to securing good governance for the “good life city”.
Wilson, I don’t think you can separate Buie from the present governance of Albany. The degenerate Langstaff/Lott/Hodges types made Buie possible. Until you get rid of them, Buie will keep coming back, just under different names with different scams.
“The check that was wired was for $2200, a check that Nicole Brown admitted was cashed with most of the money being returned to Buie, which is a kickback and illegal.”
Again, there is no proof beyond a reasonable doubt this was a kickback. Tom you need to step away from what you feel and look at the actual provable facts. Browns testimony can not be believed. Outside of that you have hapenstance.
“The fact was that any check made out to Nicole Brown was supposed to be a payment to her for services rendered”
Exactly.. so they should have gone after her for fraud, for not honoring the contract and providing the services contracted for? Buie contracted her..it is here end to perform..
See where this is going Tom…You are so hell bent on proving someone wrong you are skipping the same simple steps the DA’s office did.
I’m not hell bent on proving anyone wrong. However, this seems to boil down to a couple of key differences of opinion, namely the validity of Nicole Brown’s testimony. Personally, I believed the testimony. You didn’t.
But don’t pretend that I’m somehow clouded in my thinking because you happen to disagree with me. Frankly, it’s insulting. I can handle disagreement, but you’re crossing a line in your accusations towards me that I’ve done anything but looked at the facts objectively.
Tim, you have thrown accusations several times, and I’ve countered them. You’ve gotten facts wrong, and I’ve countered them. Frankly, I’m not sure I’m the one that needs to take a step back.
At least the trial is finished and with a result that seems to have been a compromise result. The juror feedback suggests that the jury got past the block and was heading toward guilty on some counts and not guilty on others. A jail sentence would likely have been imposed, quite possibly longer that the plea deal. I, for one, think the defense made a good deal under the circumstances, especially with the jury feedback in the Herald this morning. And certainly the prosecution’s perspective on avoiding yet another trial when they get a guilty plea, time and a long probation is quite understandable.
Don Buie was difficult to figure out. He could have pulled things together in Albany, but given his concealment of the prior conviction, was flawed from the start, regardless of his action and was just waiting/wanting to be unmasked.
Frankly, there is a positoin that the entire matter has been good for the city since it revealed some systemic problems and brought some public scrutiny on political and government processes, and perhaps it has been cathartic so that a healing/recovery process can get underway.
At least two major questions remain going forward:
1. Will local government be open and “transparent” as people have asking? Is there a new mentality? If not universal, will those in goverment call out those who attempt to circumvent proper governance?
2. Have those who have some influence on economic direction learned how local commerce (downtown and otherwise) can be fortified in the face of larger city, regional and national economic dynamics which do not seem to favor local growth?
In the end, the issues of a low/no growth local economy and growing poverty and business movement to beyond the county line (tax base and reinvestment issues) remain and control many results.
To me, Don Buie, was a blip. An instructive blip, but hopefully a blip that sends a message to the leadership. Now is a time for the people and leaders of Albany to suck it up and attempt to work together and put a very solid and realistic economic plan together.
It is soon a new year afterall.
Tim, Tim, Tim…….I agree with Tom that YOU are the one who needs to step back and view the Buie fiasco objectively. When Tom and Kevin Hogencamp started their investigation, I had no opinion one way or the other about Buie and his position. As time went on and their investigation got deeper, I began to think we did indeed have corruption going on in City government.
Evidence was presented during the trial which apparently was not considered by the jury. It was factual evidence. Not made up. Not a fairy tale. And not just because a few people wanted Buie gone. The facts remain that Buie screwed up.
First of all, he was a convicted felon and as such should never have been hired in a position where he had any control of money. The alleged background check conducted prior to his hiring did not turn up this information. The fact remains he was and IS a convicted felon. And while not considered, he did lie on his job application.
But that’s not the core issue. Buie abused his position and the trust placed in him by the local government. He misappropriated funds. He allowed a $50K facade grant to a woman for a business outside the downtown area covered by his position. And the fact that she was an ADICA board member was unethical even if it wasn’t illegal. And then there were the monies paid out to his wuife and girlfriend.
You need to go back and look at all the facts of this case. Not the inuendo presented by any media.
And to make the remark that Chris Cohilis made closing remarks that might have been considered by the jury…….what a crock. In the US, in ANY court trial, the jurors are always cautioned to deliberate on the facts of the case. Not the opening statements where a DA may say “we will prove such-and-such” or on the closing statement of either side.
Jurors are always instructed to consider the preponderance of evidence and if the evidence shows, beyond a reasonable doubt, that someone is guilty, then the jury must find them guilty.
Like Sgt. Joe Friday used to say many long years ago, “just the facts ma’am/sir. Just the facts”.
And that’s where you have missed the point, Tim. The facts showed beyond any reasonable doubt, there was a lot of guilt involved.
Tom..You believe a person who under oath said they lied..call it personal if you want but no way could any IMPARTIAL person believe that testimony 100%.
I’m not taking a step back, I do not think either way about Don Buie, I believe the DA and the Judge were in bed on this one and that Justice was not served, the case should have been moved an IMPARTIAL jury found, and Denise Marshall needs to step down as Judge because it is obvious to me, mabye not others she has an agenda that isn’t based on the law.
BeeJay –
Give me unadulterated facts…and the order they came about.
None of it was fair and none of it was just. Plain as that.
If you honestly think any of this case was performed fairly under the law, we will never agree.
I’m not claiming Don Buie innocent, I’m claiming unfair justice, and a man without a bankroll can not get a fair shake.
“First of all, he was a convicted felon and as such should never have been hired in a position where he had any control of money”
Is this a law? So any convicted felon should never work again, even a cashier at McDonalds handles money.
believe what she said that also corresponded to the affadavit she gave at Phil Cannon’s office months ago that launched the whole investigation in the first place. She explained her recanting that to my satisfaction as well, since I could see why that would scare her to change her story. You don’t feel that’s sufficient, and that’s fine.
As for relocating the trial, I was OK with that from the start as well and for a lot of reasons. But I don’t claim to be impartial. I did make up my mind. But my mind was made up by the evidence I personally saw, not some issue with Buie who I didn’t know.
“Buie abused his position and the trust placed in him by the local government.”
Again, unethical maybe, but not illegal.
Tom, you can believe the evidence, So that is one charge of what? Pleads down to a misdemean and time served for a normal citizen. Do the courts hold Public servants to a higher standard?
The DA got overzealous, they got Buie out and they should have left well enough alone.
The evidence was multiple charges of fraud at the very least.
Look, let’s just agree to disagree on this. It’s over and done with and arguing won’t change anything. There’s more pressing issues in this town to deal with anyways.
All I can say is bah, humbug and phooey! Sorry, after this fiasco I just don’t hold out much hope for Albany.
The trial for Buie is over but the trial for local taxpayers continues. According to today’s Herald something called the Georgia Cities Foundation will be touring the state with developers and plans to stay overnight in Albany. That sounds like a good thing but the Herald goes on to quote James Taylor and give his version of what downtown redevelopment should look like. I don’t give a damn what Taylor thinks except that my tax dollars will be used to fund whatever fiasco he may dream up. A new title doesn’t make him an expert. To my knowledge he has NO experience in business let alone anything as complex as revitalizing the downtown in one of the nations poorest cities. Appears we may have learned nothing in 2009.
Simply saying “no” is the best answer. Unfortunately, the ADICA board and city commission is composed of shills and pumpers for downtown who are either far underwater with their own downtown investment (and are willing to throw any amount of tax dollars at downtown for the longshot chance at rescuing their own investment) or are nothing but political whores looking only to the next election and who cannot admit they’ve squandered millions of tax dollars already.
I don’t disagree with you entirely but if we are going to proceed let’s at least get some real expertise involved. From today’s Herald; “Taylor said a redevelopment team that will include investment bankers, development officials and downtown stakeholders is in the works.” Who are the “development officials” and what do they know about the matter? Investment bankers won’t be needed until and if a viable plan is achieved and downtown stakeholders obviously have a bias toward taxpayer funded projects as you point out. This is our vision?