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Thursday, June 3, 2021
Volume 134 Number 7
Jasper, Georgia
24 pages in two sections
Published Weekly
In dramatic court finale,Wigington
sentenced to 15 years to serve five
Disgraced magistrate
nearly collapses when
sentence read in court
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
On Thursday morning, May 27,
former Pickens County Magistrate
Judge Allen Wigington received a
15-year sentence, to serve five of
those years incarcerated and the re
maining 10 years on probation, plus
paying restitution for his theft of tax
payer money.
The sentence appeared to shock
the longtime county employee to the
point that he had to steady himself
on the defense table to keep from
collapsing when it was read.
The sentence hearing, which was
attended by a handful of family
members, friends, and other mem
bers of the public, came about a
month after Wigington pled guilty to
crimes that date back to 2016. In
total, he pled guilty to 44 felonies
and five misdemeanors.
The case involved improper use
of a county credit card and resulted
in charges that ranged from theft-by
taking, to racketeering, to financial
card fraud, and violating oath of of
fice. The vast majority of the counts
involve personal and household
items purchased with the county
credit card through Amazon and
other stores, as well as several hotel
rooms and food charged to the card.
Some of the tangible items were re
covered from Wigington’s residence
when the GB1 executed a search
warrant last year.
In addition to other sentencing
imposed by visiting Judge Tambra P.
Colston from Floyd County, Wiging
ton was ordered to pay $17,485 in
restitution, with special conditions of
his probation requiring him to serve
2,000 hours of community service,
to disclose his conviction to any po
tential employer, and to have no con
tact with the Blaine Lodge,
magistrate court, and any other vic
tims or witnesses named in the case
including an attorney involved with
a high school mock trial. Wigington
stole money intended for a student’s
suit for that trial.
The former judge was granted
first offender status, which means
after sentencing ends the conviction
will no longer appear on his public
record.
"Mr. Wigington violated the pub
lic's trust in the worst way, and he
will now serve time for his deceitful
behavior,” said Attorney General
Chris Carr in a prepared statement.
“1 commend the work of our Prose
cution Division, the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation and the Pickens
County Sheriff’s Office for uncover
ing the extreme lengths that Mr.
Wigington went through to defraud
his community. The theft of taxpayer
funds will not go unpunished, and
we will continue to root out this type
of public comiption in our state.”
Due to social distancing, there
were only 16 spaced-out chairs in
side the courtroom. A few people
spilled out into the hall. At least two
people were there not out of support,
but because See Wigington on 9A
Historic Moore Furniture building sold
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@piekensprogress.com
The historic Main Street building
that most recently housed Moore
Furniture sold at auction last week,
Thursday, May 27.
The auction was held by
Dempsey Auction Company, whose
owners said the turnout was excel
lent. In addition to the four in-person
bidders, there were 14 online bidders
from Georgia, Mississippi, Ohio,
Florida, and Georgia.
“That’s really exceptional and
says a lot about the product and a lot
about Jasper,” said Dempsey Auc
tion Co. President Lou Dempsey,
who co-owns the business with his
father Ray Dempsey, founder.
The two parcels, totaling around
6,900 sq. ft., sold for $510,000 plus
a 10-percent buyer’s fee. The pur
chaser was Canton attorney Doug
Flint, who owns several other prop
erties in Jasper under Silex Station
LLC and Silex Ventures LLC, in
cluding the Woodbridge Inn, the
large industrial property off Hood
Road that was once a shoe plant, and
the Main Street site most recently in
habited by Coco’s Cottage.
Angela Reinhardt / Photo
Dempsey Auction Company Founder Ray Dempsey, center with visor, was one of several lively auctioneers
at the Main Street building sale. In addition to in-person bidders, there were many people in attendance as
spectators.
According to the description on County Post Office, Rexall Drug and operated Moore Furniture, sell-
the Dempsey Auction website, “the Store, but most notably from 1961 ing everything from footstools to
original building was constructed in until recently it served as Moore bedroom suites to thousands upon
1916 and has served in many capac- Furniture. Mrs. Maxine Moore, thousands of north Georgia resi-
ities, including the original Pickens along with her husband GL, owned dents.”
Remembering
our fallen
At Memorial Day sendees held Monday at Sunrise
Memorial Park in Jasper, a color guard of the Metro
politan Atlanta Youth Marines stands sentinel beneath
a flag at half-staff, while in the background, represen
tatives of local patriotic and service organizations place
the traditional wreaths in honor of each branch of serv
ice.
By Larry Cavender
Contributing Writer
Armed Forces Day is for
recognizing those who are
currently serving in our
armed forces. Veteran's
Day is for honoring all vet
erans, past and present,
who have served in times
of war and peace.
Memorial Day, how
ever, is the most sacrosanct
of all our nation's military
themed observances for it
is a day dedicated for re
membrance of our fallen,
See Memorial on 9A
Bridge club marks 50 years
and still going strong
Bridge fanatics share a
lifetime of friendship
By Jennifer Paire
Contributing Writer
When the young members of a Jasper
bridge club partnered in 1972 they didn’t
know their journey would span a lifetime
and cross generations.
“Some of us really are fanatics when it
comes to bridge,” said Shirley Pool, a long
time Pickens County resident. “In 1972 we
were all young with babies, or having ba
bies, and there was nothing to do in Pickens
County. We needed something that was
ours and nothing, I mean nothing, inter
fered with it.”
Almost 50 years later, this circle of
friends includes five original players: Pool,
Susan Lindsey, Nancy Proffitt, Mary Jones
and Jackie Gise. The “newbies” are Elaine
Landrum, having joined in the 1990s, and
Rita Johnson, who joined 10 years ago. All
live in Jasper today and gathered recently
to catch up.
“We have had players come and go,
some of them moved or we’ve lost them,”
said Pool. “We’ve gone through marriages
and divorces, lots of vacations and now a
pandemic.”
Even that has not curbed the club’s en
thusiasm for the game or for each other de
spite a year without in-person bridge sport.
Members rallied and received COVID-19
vaccinations this spring with plans to re
unite soon. In previous years, the club met
like clockwork See Bridge on 10A
After almost 50 years of regular bridge card playing, this club's current members
include (front left to right) Rita Johnson, Susan Lindsey, Elaine Landrum, (back left
to right) Mary Jones, Shirley Pool, Nancy Proffitt and Jackie Gise who is not pictured.
Allen Wigington
Editorial - 4A
Roll out to enjoy
the Peach State
this summer
Obituaries - 6A
• Barbara Miller
• Bradley May
• Carol Conway
• Harold Barmore
• Hoyt Keener
• Jackie Lamy
• James Hunter
• Jeffery Van Doran
• Jimmy Roper
• Jody Goode
• Joyce Chumley
• Marilyn Quinton
• Michael Stroud
• Sarah Saunders
• Tammy Kincaid
• Virlyn Taylor
Contact Us
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Jasper, Ga. 30143
706-253-2457
www.pickensprogress.com
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