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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 23. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
Pickens Fire Departments recognizedfor assistance to Toys for Tots - (l-r) Andy Scott,
lieutenant; Tony Simmons, battalion chief; Richard Wilson, United States Marine Corps
Reserve; Tim Prather, fire chief; Destiny O’Connell, firefighter/EMT; and Eric Irish, lieu
tenant.
Toys for Tots recognizes supporters - (l-r) Richard Wil
son, United States Marine Corps Reserve; Amy Brannon,
Toys for Tots; Tim Prather, fire chief; and Jacob Tow, Geor
gia State Patrol trooper first class.
Wilsons
owner George Weaver Jr.,
and comments from Mrs.
Wilson’s attorney’ who read
letters from people in support
of her character, visiting
Judge Tambra Colston sen
tenced Mr. Wilson to 15
years to serve three of those
in prison, and Mrs. Wilson to
15 years to serve two.
The Wilsons paid $50,000
in restitution in court that
day. Both were sentenced to
pay additional restitution, to
have no harassing contact
with the Weavers who they
co-owned the range with and,
in Mr. Wilson’s case, to have
no contact with the Boy
Scouts of America.
The Wilsons, who had not
been previously convicted of
a crime, were not granted the
Georgia First Offender’s Act
despite a request by their at
torneys. If granted, this act
allows first time offenders
have their criminal history
expunged after their sentence
is completed. The offender
can also regain rights such as
the right to vote and bear
arms.
Mr. Wilson’s attorney re
quested the first offender act
in large part because Mr. Wil
son, an avid firearms advo
cate and NRA instructor who
taught at the gun range,
wished to continue instruct
ing after he served his time.
Judge Colston accepted
the sentencing recommenda
tion of the state. She called it
“too light, but I’ll accept it.”
She said it was likely the Wil
son’s $50,000 restitution pay
ment impacted the state’s
recommendation.
Prior to sentencing,
George Weaver Jr. spoke
about his experience with the
Wilsons as friends and busi
ness partners. He told the
judge he had trusted them ex
plicitly, and that after details
about the thefts surfaced he
has had a difficult time facing
reality. As co-owners of the
range he and his sister, who
are lawyers, did not run day-
to-day operations and left the
financials completely to the
Wilsons.
“I’m heartbroken and
can’t get over it,” Weaver
said. “...If he’d told me the
sky was green I’d believe
him.” Weaver said the
Wilsons were able to use
their power to get people on
their side and “gain personal
benefit.”
He told the judge about an
incident in which Mrs. Wil
son accused an employee of
stealing $20 that Mr. Wilson
had actually stolen and let
someone else take the blame.
There was another incident
regarding Mrs. Wilson indi
rectly harassing a different
employee.
Weaver read a Mark
Twain quote Mrs. Wilson
posted on Facebook after
their arrest: “The truth has no
defense against a fool deter
mined to believe a lie,” and a
subsequent post from her
daughter saying she would
come after people who
spread lies about her parents
or kids.
“These are the people
we’re facing,” Weaver said.
Weaver asked the judge to
deny the Wilsons First Of
fender Status.
Mrs. Wilson’s attorney
read several letters from
friends and family, many of
whom she knew from
church, about her heavy in
volvement in church activi
ties, children’s activities, and
willingness to go above and
beyond with volunteerism.
There were also letters from
her son and a member of the
Arbor Hills HOA where they
lived.
The attorney said their be
havior regarding the thefts
was an “aberration of who
they are as individuals,” and
that the letters show “.. .who
Cindy Wilson is outside of
the choices she made in this
case.”
Mrs. Wilson also served
as Pickens Animal Shelter di
rector for a period of time.
But Judge Colston said
Mrs. Wilson’s Twain quote
on social media “reinforces a
deceptive nature in my opin
ion... social media is a
lawyer’s worst enemy.”
She asked Mrs. Wilson if
she believed she was guilty,
along with a few other ques
tions. Mrs. Wilson responded
with one-word “yes” an
swers.
In addition to First Of
fender Status, Mr. Wilson’s
attorney requested the sen
tencing be made under a code
that would allow request of
the parole board review the
case earlier than normal. He
cited Mr. Wilson’s numerous
health conditions that could
create issues in prison. Both
requests were ultimately de
nied by the judge.
Judge Colston went on to
comment about the letters in
support of Mrs. Wilson’s
character, and about her and
Mr. Wilson’s heavy involve
ment in the church and vol
unteerism. She said in her
decades-long career in law
she couldn’t recall one time
where people who commit fi
nancial crimes don’t over in
volve themselves in church
activities.
“I think it’s a prerequi
site,” she said, going on to
state that when she is around
people like that she “checks
my purse to make sure it’s
zipped.”
Judge Colston said the
Wilsons, like similar offend
ers she has encountered, use
church to inspire people to
trust them.
“It’s horrible to use the
church that way,” she said.
Regarding Mrs. Wilson’s
attorney’s statement that their
actions were an aberration of
character, Judge Tambra said,
“I don’t buy that. It feels like
someone is blowing smoke
up my dress.”
The courtroom was at full
capacity, with most in atten
dance there in support of
Mrs. Wilson.
Mr. Wilson was immedi
ately taken to Georgia Diag
nostics and Classification
State Prison in Jackson, Ga.
Mrs. Wilson was taken back
to the Pickens County Adult
Detention and awaits trans
port to the Lee Arrendale
State Prison in Alto, Ga.
Case background
On Wednesday, Nov. 30,
Mr. Wilson plead guilty to 10
charges, including racketeer
ing and several counts of fi
nancial theft and theft by
deception. Mrs. Wilson pled
guilty to one count of racket
eering and one count of theft
by taking. According to court
officials, a negotiated plea
agreement was reached be
tween defendants and the Of
fice of the Attorney General,
who prosecuted the case.
Indictments state that on
several instances Mrs. Wil
son wrote checks from Ap
palachian Gun Range’s
account to either herself or
Mr. Wilson, and that they
were deposited into a joint
banking account for personal
use, among other crimes re
lated to the range.
The six theft by taking
charges involve Wilson sell
ing a piece of land that was
donated for use of the Boy
Scouts organization in Hill
City and transferring the
money to a personal account.
The theft by deception charge
relates to Wilson illegally ob
taining payroll checks from
Pickens County’s shared sick
leave bank after he ran out
his own sick leave, “by using
deceitful means and failing to
report that he was able to
work at Appalachian Gun
Range.”
Mr. Wilson used the
money from the thefts to pay
for “hundreds of thousands
of dollars” of online gam
bling activities and/or gam
bling debts, according to the
Office of the Attorney Gen
eral.
Wilson served as superin
tendent of Pickens schools
from May of 2017 through
December of 2019 after a
long career in education here
beginning in 1996 as a mid
dle school principal.
He also served as an assis
tant magistrate judge during
a period of time, before being
hired as superintendent in
2017.
The investigation into
Wilson’s financial malfea
sance began after the sher
iff’s office received a tip in
early March of 2022 that he
sold the property intended for
the Boy Scouts for his own
benefit. (Note: Appalachian
Gun Range is a separate busi
ness from Appalachian Gun
& Pawn. Both are in the same
Cornish
Worley Crossroads may
be paved this year
Public Works Director
Kirk Anderson said they will
“try” to see Worley Cross
roads paved this year, along
with Cove and Jerusalem
Church roads and the short
Corinth Church Road. They
may also address a small un
paved section of Ray Moun
tain Road.
Anderson said it’s possi
ble they can add Worley
Crossroads, depending on the
estimates and state funding.
In followup comments by
e-mail, Commission Chair
Kris Stancil stated, “We are
adding [Worley Crossroads]
to the list of roads that we
will get bids to pave. If the
available SPLOST funds are
sufficient to add this one, we
will get it included as well.
With road maintenance,
Anderson remarked, “there is
never a dull moment.”
Stancil commended the
road crews for a phenomenal
job, noting they keep up 400
miles of paved roads and 100
miles of unpaved roads.
Tate sidewalk project
should move forward
A long-planned project to
redo the old sidewalk from
the depot in Tate to the
bridge just before Tate Ele
mentary should move for
ward. Stancil later said, “This
[project] is to tear out and re
place the sidewalk that cur
rently exists and is falling
apart. The price will deter
mine the project timeframe
but we anticipate to do this as
soon as possible. Hopefully
within the next couple of
months.”
Stancil said this section of
sidewalk would make a great
walking path. “It’s been
needed for a decade,” he said.
Parks a “constant
conversation ” with
county officials
During public comments
Rosene Ruschman Benedict,
who has relocated here from
Ohio where she worked for
the parks there as well as pre
viously with the National
Park Service, called for more
public greenspace.
She said she fears Pickens
will be overwhelmed with
the growing population and
the county should work to
said. “ There are a few punch
list items that the chiefs have
requested be taken care of,
and the dealer has agreed to
perform. The engine should
be ready in 90 days to take
delivery.”
Fire Chief John Sherrer
said the truck is equipped
with a 75-foot ladder, and
also a pump and tank which
means it doubles as an en
gine. Traditionally, ladder
trucks do not have pumps
and tanks and must be as
sisted by engines.
“We’ve needed this for
some time for our service de
livery area,” he said. “We’ll
be able to access taller build
ings and this will also help
our ISO rating as well.”
The tallest buildings in the
city limits are three stories,
including the Microtel motel
off Highway 515 and the
Mountainside Manor apart
ment buildings off Bill Hasty
Blvd. (The apartments are
four stories in a few places,
Sherrer said.)
Insurance Service Organ
ization [ISO] ratings impact
obtain more greenspace.
In her previous jobs,
Benedict saw people sup
ported parks and having
parks in an area enhances
property values.
Stancil said this is a “con
stant conversation” they have
at the county.
He said the top priority is
to complete expansion/im
provement work at Roper
Park.
In the later comments, he
offered these additional de
tails, “We are currently fin
ishing the lights and will be
bidding out the walk path at
Roper Park in the next couple
of months. We also have a
project needed to either im
prove or replace the rest
rooms at the park due to the
septic system not being able
to support growth. As these
are going on, we are continu
ing to look at other potential
projects and how they will be
funded.”
Free Dogwood saplings
Keep Pickens Beautiful
has 100 free dogwood
saplings available, first come,
first serve at the recycling
center.
In other news:
• The county participated
in a table-top exercise as part
of the Georgia Safe Dams re
quirements for the Lake Petit
Dam in Big Canoe.
Emergency Management
Director Mark Harris called it
a very productive meeting,
looking at how county resi-
homeowners insurance pre
miums. They are based on a
community’s preparedness to
fight fires, and take numer
ous items into account such
as water supply, distance
from fire station, and others.
Council voted to approve the
purchase at a called meeting
Friday, Feb. 17. Price of the
truck is $360,000.
In addition to anticipating
future growth, the ladder
track purchase was made to
fill an immediate need caused
by a lengthy delay in delivery
of a different engine council
approved purchase of last
summer. The engine was
originally slated to be com
pleted by mid-2024, but
“Chief Sherrer received a
call...early last week advis
ing that this engine would be
delayed another one year+
due to issues procuring mate
rials,” Goldener said. “The
delay means we’ll need to
rely on Engine 3 (1998
model) for longer than ex
pected - it is still in service,
but becoming increasingly
unreliable.”
dents would be notified if an
emergency happens at the
dam inside the gated commu
nity.
• Kelsey Essig has been
hired in a joint roll of grant
writer and to work with eco
nomic development. She
comes to the county as a re
cent UGA graduate with a
degree in economics.
Stancil said, “she has hit
the ground running.”
• Marine Corps League,
Detachment 1280 recognized
several supporters of their
yearly Toys for Tots program
including coordinator Amy
Brannon who has worked
with the annual toy drive and
distribution for four years.
Last year the program
more than doubled the
amount of distributions.
Plans were for the engine
purchased last year to be paid
with 2020 SPLOST funds.
The city has put aside
$30,000 a month from those
funds for the engine since it
was ordered. They will use
that $270,000, plus the addi
tional $30,000 they will put
away for the next 90 days
until the ladder track is deliv
ered, to cover the cost of the
track. After that, the city will
set aside SPLOST funding
for the engine they voted to
Richard Wilson with the Ma
rine Corps League noted all
donations remain in the
county.
Also recognized were the
Pickens Fire departments
who have drop-off boxes in
all stations. The local Ga.
State Patrol Post was recog
nized for work manning col
lection boxes.
Wilson said for most peo
ple it’s a long ways until
Christmas but they are al
ready at work. A huge need is
a location where they can
store toys and offer pick ups.
Each year they have to relo
cate which hampers their
work.
Wilson closed by saying,
“every child deserves a
Christmas.”
purchase last year.
Sherrer said he was able to
negotiate the price to coin
cide with available SPLOST
funds, which would enable
them to pay for it outright
upon receipt.
“I’ve had my eye on the
ladder track,” he said, “and
even though the long delay
with the engine was a setback
it provided us a with the op
portunity.”
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Mailbox
dent
of the subdivision drove up on a four-wheeler and told au
thorities he found the mailboxes down the trail near the
lake. The man, who is on the community’s HOA, moved
all mailboxes but one to the lake pavilion.
The evidence was processed and put on hold for Milton
Police Department for their investigation.
When asked if it was suspected the mailboxes were
stolen to get mail inside them, Pickens Sheriff’s CID Com
mander John Cagle said, “It’s possible, but it’s hard to tell.”
The Milton Police have a video of a person of interest
posted on their Facebook page. The person appears to be a
young white male.
The post says, “The person was seen walking in the area
of Glencreek Way near where a mailbox was stolen from a
residence. We are attempting to locate this person to ascer
tain if they may have any further information regarding the
thefts.”
The Milton Police did not respond with additional in
formation before press time; It was unclear if an arrest had
been made.
Continued From 1A
Ladder Truck
Photo/Jasper Fire Department
With delivery of a fire engine purchased last summer de
layed until 2025, city leaders approved purchase of this lad
der truck. It will be delivered in approximately three months
and outfitted with city of Jasper graphics.