Sheriff Comes Under Federal Investigation

From the Times Union online:

U.S. Attorney has investigation of Camden County sheriff
Posted: Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
By GORDON JACKSONThe Times-Union
KINGSLAND — A Georgia Bureau of Investigation probe into the Camden County Sheriff’s Office use of inmate labor is complete and in the hands of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta.
Stephen Kelley, district attorney for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit, said today he has sent the investigative report to federal prosecutors and expects them to decide in two to three months whether to prosecute.
Kelley said received the report of the GBI findings just before Christmas and quickly sent it to federal authorities because his office works daily with the Sheriff’s Office. It could be perceived as a potential conflict of interest if he were to prosecute the case, Kelley said.
In addition, some of the inmates questioned by the GBI during the probe were prosecuted by his office, Kelley said.
The GBI launched the investigation after inmates were seen working on private property on Cumberland Island National Seashore in June. The National Park Service removed Superintendent Jerre Brumbelow from his job in July while while conducting its own investigation. Brumbelow has been reassigned to the Park Service’s regional office in Atlanta.
Kelley said his office would have faced certain criticism regardless of its decision to prosecute the case.
“These things become a no-win situation for the District Attorney’s Office,” he said.
Patrick Crosby a public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, declined comment on the investigation.
“The Justice Department’s policy is to neither confirm or deny any possible investigation,” Crosby said.
Lt. William Terrell, a sheriff’s spokesman, was not in his office today and did not return calls to his personal cell phone for comment.
Smith also was out of town and could not be reached for comment.
Kelley said he read the report but declined to reveal any of it contents. The document will not be made public until the ongoing federal investigation is complete, Kelley said.
County Commissioner David Rainer said he supports Kelley’s decision to turn over the investigation to federal prosecutors.
“I don’t know if I would have done anything different,” Rainer said. “That way, you remove doubt either way. I think he did a wise thing.”
Inmates interviewed by the Times-Union last summer said deputies transported them across state lines to work at the sheriff’s ex-wife’s house in South Carolina. Inmates also told the newspaper they built a house for Smith on a tract of land in the county nicknamed “The Ponderosa.”
Times-Union reporter Teresa Stepzinski contributed to this report.
gordon.jackson@jacksonville.com,(912) 729-3672