Seven years after a vast corruption scandal at Atlanta City Hall came to light, the city’s former chief financial officer is scheduled for a federal plea hearing Monday in a related criminal case.
Jim Beard, who previously pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges, is due to appear before a federal judge in Atlanta at 10 a.m., likely avoiding a trial that was due to start in May. His case is believed to be the last of the federal government’s prosecutions stemming from the sprawling corruption investigation that lasted at least eight years.
Eight other former Atlanta officials and city government contractors have been sentenced to prison in the extraordinary scandal that involved allegations of bribery, witness tampering, tax evasion and fraud, among other charges. The facts of Beard’s case are perhaps the most stunning of the lot.
Beard, the man responsible for the oversight and management of the city’s financial condition from 2011 to 2018, is accused of using public money to cover tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses and of cheating on his taxes. Prosecutors say he used city funds to pay for airline tickets, machine guns, lavish meals, luxury hotels and limousines for himself and his travel companions.
It is not clear to which charges Beard might plead guilty, or what the government’s sentencing recommendation might be.
Beard used his city-issued credit card for a $10,277 stay at the luxury Shangri-La Hotel in Paris, France, in 2017, records show. He later repaid taxpayers after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News obtained statements showing his use of the credit card during then-Mayor Kasim Reed’s last three years in office.
Beard is also accused of using $2,641 in taxpayer money to buy two machine guns for personal use. He claimed that the fully automatic weapons, which were delivered to his office in City Hall, were for the Atlanta Police Department….
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