MATTIE'S CALL: A 9-month-old baby girl was reported missing from the Ellenwood area with a man police say was diagnosed with a mental illness. The former mayor of Stonecrest who pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges is making a punishment request. ATLANTA - Clarence Boone, the former Senior Economic Development Manager of Stonecrest, pleaded guilty to conspiring with his wife, Lania Boone, and the former Mayor of Stonecrest, Jason Lary, to steal pandemic relief funds intended to support small businesses in Stonecrest. A bookkeeper and spouse of a former Stonecrest official accepted a plea deal in federal court Friday afternoon for participating in the same fraud scheme that brought down the city's founding. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Have a question about Government Services? 100 people involved in a total of $26 million in CARES Act fraud. Charles Johnson, Sr., has pleaded guilty for not paying $1.4 million in payroll taxes and for failure to pay employment taxes. The city's first mayor did not mention his legal troubles in a resignation speech. STONECREST, Ga. Former Stonecrest mayor Jason Lary has pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges just hours after resigning Wednesday. and were incurred during the period that [began] on March 1, 2020, and [ended] on December 30, 2020. Examples of eligible expenditures were medical expenses, public health expenses, and grants to small businesses to reimburse the costs of business interruption caused by required closures. For further information please contact the U.S. Attorneys Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. Zachary Hansen, a Georgia native, covers economic development and commercial real estate for the AJC. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Since Larys term was set to expire at the end of 2023, the city charter requires a special election to fill his post. In court on Wednesday, Lary apologized to his family, friends and Stonecrest residents. Main Office: While I was out on cancer leave, they removed me from every committee I created, refused to pay my car allowance, while paying six figures to the finance director and $209,000 annually to the acting city manager (including a car allowance). Author: 11alive.com Published: 6:24 PM EST February 11, 2022 A former health care executive, Lary was instrumental in convincing the General Assembly to create the city of Stonecrest along I-20 in south DeKalb County. A bookkeeper was also involved in the scheme and arraigned, records show. Lary is expected to be sentenced on July 13 at 10 a.m. 2023 FOX Television Stations, resignation went into effect at 10 a.m. Wednesday, he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief. The phrase is quoted by Jesus, who applies it to his mission of death and glory, after having told the . The judge says Lary's actions were "deplorable" and rejected a defense request for Lary to avoid prison time. 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Ronald Bell, who conspired to extort money from Georgia Institute of Technology, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit extortion. Suite 600 Former Stonecrest mayor pleads guilty to federal fraud charges Former Stonecrest mayor resigns and plead guilty to federal fraud charges. Channel 2s Audrey Washington called and emailed Stonecrest officials about the announcement and the hack. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor Wilmot previously prosecuted the case. Wilmot said Lary used some of that stolen money to pay off the $108,147 mortgage on his lakefront home in Macon. Stonecrest mayor pleads guilty to federal fraud charges - CBS 46 Lania Boone received a sentence of six months and one day in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $7,657.47. Credit: Photo courtesy of Boston College Athletics, Former Stonecrest mayor pleads guilty to federal fraud charges, Stonecrest passes on March election date to replace mayor after guilty fraud plea, Jahmyr Gibbs: Georgia Tech helped make me who I am today, Georgia Tech closes regular season with win over Boston College. The city will hold a special election on May 24 to fill the rest of the mayors term after the office was vacated by Jason Lary in January. The DeKalb County District Attorneys Office will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to bring these bad actors to justice, said DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston. U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash sentenced Stonecrest ex-mayor Jason Lary to 57 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay nearly $120,000 in restitution. This sentencing holds Lary accountable for abusing his position of trust and blatant disrespect for the law.. As another example, Lary presented a check from MRPC for $50,000 to Church 2. Later, a person acting on Larys behalf told Church 2 to contribute $4,500 of the relief funds to REMC, purportedly for rent assistance. 2022-02-12 - By Zachary Hansen zachary.hansen@ajc.com. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $119,607.69. We have no response about the Mayors resignation, city officials said. Check back for details. Jason Lary was accused of stealing more than. 75 Ted Turner Dr. SW I should've stayed out for several months, but circumstances prevailed where I needed to come back earlier," Lary said. The three conspired to steal and misappropriate relief funds intended for struggling businesses in Stonecrest. Former Stonecrest mayor sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for Lary won the mayors race twice, the citys only mayor in its brief history. The first is verse 22, "The stone rejected by the builders has become the corner-stone". Stonecrest's former Senior Economic Development Manager pleads guilty Former Mayor of Stonecrest sentenced to prison for stealing COVID-19 A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Lary was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution as well. Stonecrest ex-mayor's cohort pleads guilty in fraud scheme Lary announced his resignation to the city on a Zoom call . She is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15, 2022. The city of Stonecrest could hold a special election as early as March to decide Larys replacement. Later, in March 2021, after learning of an investigation into the citys handling of relief funds and knowing that the business had never filed paperwork to support the grant, Clarence Boone attempted to conceal the scheme by directing the businesss owner to submit an application that contained false statements, even though the Small Business Program had already ceased operations. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. Federal authorities brought the mayor of Stonecrest to court alleging he stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief granted to the city. In a special-called meeting, members of the Stonecrest City Council voted 4-1 to censure Lary. A bookkeeper and spouse of a former Stonecrest official accepted a plea deal in federal court Friday afternoon for participating in the same fraud scheme that brought down the city's founding mayor. SB 300, also called the Sentencing Reform Act, would rewrite part of Proposition 115, a 1990 ballot initiative that expanded the definition of first-degree murder to include murder committed . In January 2021, Boone used her access to one of MRPCs bank accounts to wire transfer approximately $108,000 of relief funds to a mortgage servicing company. Library : Stone Rejected Has Become Cornerstone, The Federal prosecutors said that in addition to paying off personal debt, Lary conducted a scheme where he asked small businesses and churches to whom he allocated grants to give 25% of the money to companies connected to himself and co-conspirators. The qualification period will take place roughly a month before the election date, and it must end 25 days before the election takes place. I let us down, he told the court, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This article originally appeared on the Decatur-Avondale Estates Patch, Reports: 3 children dead, 2 wounded in attack at Texas home, Kellyanne Conway, George Conway To Divorce After Decadeslong Marriage: Report, School punished teen girl for working out in sports bra in 100-degree Texas heat, ACLU says, U.S. court won't require FAA to make airplane seat size, spacing rules, 'Extremely dangerous': Spike in illegal crossings at Canada-Vermont border has feds sounding alarm, SoCal in for cool start to weekend, butlight showers make brief return. Lary, 60, pleaded guilty in January to wire fraud, federal program theft and conspiracy to commit federal program theft. Boone agreed to cooperate with government agents, provide records and testify at future trials. Lary faces up to 35 years in prison on all three counts. Lary resigned a day before he pleaded guilty to. If the special election for the mayors seat requires a runoff election, it will take place June 21. "He certainly, as alleged by the Grand Jury, used his position as mayor of Stonecrest to divert those funds and used his influence and connections," Erskine said. The people of Stonecrest deserved better, and corrupt officials can expect severe consequences for using their offices to commit crimes., It is extremely disheartening when an elected official, someone sworn to protect the community they serve, violates that oath by stealing relief funds intended to aid their community, said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. ATLANTA Jason Lary, the former Mayor of the City of Stonecrest, has been sentenced for using his elected office to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated to the city. . The Atlanta Journal-Constitution was the only news outlet at the hearing. Instead Lary worked behind the scenes to form a private company, Municipal Resource Partners Corporation, Inc. (MRPC), recruit its CEO, open its bank accounts, and ensure that Lania Boone, his convicted co-conspirator, would be hired as MRPCs bookkeeper. Then, Lary caused the city to enter a contract with MPRC to disburse the relief funds as directed by Stonecrest. Lary directed $7,600 of the federal relief dollars to pay Boones sons college tuition and rent. As mayor, he took control of who received $6.2 million in CARES Act money. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]. Stonecrest mayor pleads guilty to federal fraud charges Stonecrest did not disburse the $6 million allocated to the Stonecrest Cares Program and Small Business Program. Erskine told the FOX 5 I-Team he is accused of pocketing more than $650,000. The rescue team said the man was buried up to his neck in soil. The censure stemmed from remarks Mayor Lary made at the end of a council meeting on Sept. 27. "You don't recognize Mayor Pro Tem and council and just leave me standing there like I'm not in the meeting. Cobbles term is set to expire in 2026, so another special election will be necessary. With Lary now 60 years old and with no criminal history, his legal team requested that house arrest, community service and statutory required supervision be considered for his sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office alleges Mayor Jason Lary misused $6.2 million in COVID-19 relief funds. Shes the wife of Clarence Boone, the citys former economic development director who was fired as a result of investigations in the citys relief program. Lania Boone pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit federal program theft on February 11, 2022. Jason Lary received a sentence of four years and nine months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $119,607.69. Instead, $108,000 dollars were transferred to pay off the mortgage on a lakefront propertyowned by the former mayor. ATLANTA (AP) A former Georgia mayor will serve nearly five years in federal prison after stealing nearly $925,000 in COVID-19 relief funds that his city handed out. BREAKING: A bookkeeper and spouse of a former Stonecrest official accepted a plea deal in federal court Friday afternoon for participating in the same fraud scheme that brought down the city's. STONECREST, Ga. - A bookkeeper hired by former Stonecrest mayor Jason Lary has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for her part in a scheme to steal COVID relief funds. Former Stonecrest mayor pleads guilty to federal fraud charges U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash sentenced Stonecrest ex-mayor Jason Lary to 57 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay nearly $120,000 in restitution. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. (Art by Richard Miller). Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justices National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form. As you can tell with technology, it can be immature and ridiculous, and thats fine, Lary said. On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. Second, Lary told churches that received relief funds from the Stonecrest Cares Program that they were required to contribute a portion of those funds for purposes identified by Lary. First, Lary conspired with Boone to steal relief funds before they were disbursed by MRPC. Until a new mayor is elected, the mayors responsibilities will be handled by the mayor pro tem. "I ask that you measure me by the whole story," Lary said. The discussion comes after the censure of Stonecrest's mayor for comments he made during a meeting. He has not been charged with a crime. In total, businesses were defrauded out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of relief funds. A lock ( He's been with the newspaper since 2018 and enjoys diving into complex stories that affect people's lives. Former Stonecrest Mayor Pleads Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges ATLANTA - Jason Lary, the former mayor of Stonecrest, and Lania Boone, a bookkeeper for the entity that administered COVID-19 relief funds awarded to Stonecrest, have pleaded guilty to. Stonecrest Mayor Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges Former mayor admits role in COVID relief fraud scheme Former Stonecrest mayor pleads guilty to federal fraud charges At least two candidates have publicly said theyll run to be the citys next mayor. He also settled income taxes he owed going back to 2015. The application included the question, are you willing to allocate 25% of your grant to marketing your business? Hundreds of businesses applied for relief funds, but most of the applicants were rejected. For more information on the Departments response to the pandemic, please visit https://www.justice.gov/coronavirus. InJuly 2020, the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted to disburse some of the relief funds to its municipalities, including a $6.2 million grant to Stonecrest. "Instead of providing aid to Stonecrests deserving citizens, Lary allegedly diverted funds for his own use, including to pay off his taxes and the mortgage on his lakefront home.". Have a question about Government Services? Ronald Bell, who conspired to extort money from Georgia Institute of Technology, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit extortion. Former Stonecrest mayor sentenced to nearly 5 years in prison for stealing COVID-19 relief funds In January, Jason Lary pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit federal program theft and federal program theft. The City Council voted Monday to set the election date, determine qualifying information and formally ask ask the DeKalb County Board of Registrations and Elections to run the election. On October 28, 2020, for example, Clarence Boone and Lary circumvented the application process and directed more than $50,000 to a business that they knew was not conducting any legitimate operations, and Lania Boone ultimately wrote the check to disburse the funds. Federal prosecutors said that in addition to paying off personal debt, Lary conducted a scheme where he asked small businesses and churches to whom he allocated grants to give 25% of the money to companies connected to himself and co-conspirators. The judge says Larys actions were deplorable and rejected a defense request for Lary to avoid prison time. The image comes from the ancient quarries where highly-trained stonemasons carefully chose the stones used in construction. Jason Lary, whose resignation went into effect at 10 a.m. Wednesday, pleaded guilty to three counts involving wire fraud, theft of government funds and conspiracy. Stonecrest's Jason Lary COVID funds fraud case - 11Alive.com In return, prosecutors recommended a lighter sentence of 366 days in confinement half in prison and half as home arrest. The indictment alleges that Smith stole more than $450,000 in Social Security Administration Northern District of Georgia accused of personally profiting from COVID-19 relief money. A bookkeeper and spouse of a former Stonecrest official accepted a plea deal in federal court Friday afternoon for participating in the same fraud scheme that brought down the city's founding mayor. Lary did not tell Church 1 at this time that he actually controlled REMC. A lock ( Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justices National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form. Stonecrest sets May election date to replace mayor after guilty - ajc Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The resolution also adopted a funding plan for most of Stonecrests relief funds. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Atlanta, GA 30303-3309. his resignation as mayor of Stonecrest became official. His resignation went into effect Wednesday. Residents will soon get a chance to elect a new mayor in Stonecrest. Boones case matches the legal process used by Jason Lary, the founding mayor of Stonecrest. Richard B. 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