Politics & Government
DeKalb CEO Ellis Sentenced to Prison
Burrell Ellis was convicted of perjury and attempted extortion last week in his re-trial on corruption charges.
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The suspended CEO of DeKalb County has been sentenced to prison after he was convicted of charges in his corruption re-trial last week.
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Burrell Ellis was sentenced to five years, with 18 months to serve behind bars, and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, WSB-TV reports.
On July 1, Ellis was found guilty of three counts of perjury and a single count of attempted extortion for his attempts to coerce county vendors into contributing to his re-election campaign and then attempting to cover-up the plot.
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Jurors spent four days deliberating the charges before returning with a verdict last Wednesday morning.
The first trial ended in a hung jury in October of 2014 after weeks of deliberations had produced friction between jurors, squabbles between the judge and the jury, and no unanimous agreement on any of the 13 charges levied against Ellis. A mistrial was declared on Oct. 21, 2014.
Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May has been serving in Ellis’ post since 2013 and will continue to do so; May recently stepped down from his seat on the county commission to allow his constituents a voice on the commission.
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