Ex-Commissioner Sammie Sias is in prison; sentenced to 3 years
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Convicted and former Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias is in prison as of Tuesday, after being expected to report himself on Monday.
As of 4:41 a.m. on Tuesday morning, the Federal Bureau of Prisons shows Sias is located at FCI Williamsburg in Salters, S.C. about 45 minutes from Sumter.
Sias was sentenced to three years in federal prison and had 62 days to turn himself in. Those 62 days ended on Aug. 21.
He was not in the system when we checked around noon. Sias requested to start serving his time in Estill, S.C., a couple of months after sentencing.
Sias was convicted of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and false statement or representation made to a department or agency of the United States, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.
Sias was accused by a former employee of sexual misconduct, pocketing $10,000 of SPLOST funds and mistreating children at the Jamestown Community Center – a center he was long criticized for managing while serving as a commissioner.
In July 2023, Sias revealed plans to appeal his conviction just days after being sentenced to prison for destroying records in a federal investigation.
Sias filed a notice of appeal 10 days after his June 20 sentencing to three years in prison.
The judge also ordered Sias to pay a $5,000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.
In July 2022, Sias was found guilty in July after a four-day federal trial and faced up to 20 years in prison.
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