(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Augusta Press.)
Sammie Sias was found guilty on both counts cited the his federal indictment. If you haven’t heard by now, it only took the jury two hours to come back with a verdict.
That was surprising; not because of the case, but because of the jury makeup.
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By no means am I saying that because a jury looks a certain way, justice will be adverted. What I am saying is that I, personally, have never seen a jury with a makeup like that—10 minorities and three Whites—return so quickly with a guilty verdict. Other people in media made comments about this as well,at least to me anyway.
At the end of the day, Sias should have taken a deal. Once the government gets their hands on you, THEY GONNA GET YOU. Ain’t that right…getting ahead of myself early this week.
Let’s just talk personal experience.
I have seen what the government can and will do in these situations. Twice now, I have personally known someone who is very close whom the feds indicted. On both occasions it didn’t go well. After I saw the first one happen, I realized what could happen. Therefore, when the second person I knew got indicted, I told him to “make a plea, take the deal!”
A moment of clarification for all of those who may be wondering: the second time it happened it was my dad, Amos Meyers.
We had a very long conversation about the entire incident, and he explained to me that, “It was not like that.” I clearly stated to my dad that in these situations, it doesn’t matter—if they are accusing you of something, believe me, they already have it.
Which was the case with Sammie. It’s not about stealing money, it’s not about Jamestown or about Sand Ridge. It’s about whether Mr. Sias was being completely honest and did whether hit the delete key. THAT’S IT.
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They may never find out what actually happened to all of that money. Who knows? What we do know is that Marion Williams had been screaming about this since before we knew who a Sammie Sias was.
Side note to all of this.
I did attend one day of the trial while it was the prosecution’s turn. As I watched, I was not overall impressed with either side. However, it’s not my case to make, as stated in Sylvia’s column.
Moses Todd was there. The day I went I even saw Dave Barbee and was able to chat with him for a while. Mr. Barbee pointed out something that I mentioned earlier: they have to show that Sias lied and destroyed—that’s all. I wonder if Mr. Barbee knew it was me he was talking to or whether he is just that nice anyway?
ICYMI, please go back and read TAP’s article about Sias’s case: people changing their story, how it all started and what happens next.
Then once you read that, please read Sylvia Cooper’s Sunday column for this week. I would easily say it is probably one of my all-time favorites, as she lays everything out—and even shows where it all went wrong.
Please make sure to drop your thoughts on the trial below: its outcome, your predictions for what’s next and even better, your predictions for WHO’S next.
VIOLENCE
Crime seems to be at an all time high, and the violence is nonstop in this community.
I was told by someone with direct knowledge that last week in Augusta we had at least 10 shootings between Monday and Saturday. All of the shootings did not end in fatalities, and all of them were not newsworthy, I guess.
However, let’s just think about 10 shootings in a week’s time. What’s worse is that some of those people are so brazen to have committed their crime(s) in broad daylight.
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I’m excited about the growth that is in the future for Augusta, but I would definitely be more interested in seeing what will happen next to keep this community safe.
Speaking of elections, here are a few updates for the upcoming election.
I’m told that Sanford Loyd has announced to some that he will be running for tax commissioner.
I know some of you are asking, “WHO?” I did too. I have nothing bad to say about Mr. Loyd. Actually, I have nothing at all to say about him, as I have no clue who he is. I’m still waiting on a few confirmations from some other possible candidates.
I’m also hearing there maybe a surprise candidate who would probably shock the entire city.
This candidate has been receiving calls from some of Augusta’s elite and people with deep pockets. So, stay tuned to this race because it has the possibility of getting really interesting, really soon.
Speaking of interesting…
Another bit of a surprise or is it?
Bo Hunter was tapped by Gov. Brian Kemp to replace the retiring Judge Booker.
This came as somewhat of a surprise to some, but most say they figured it would happened—especially after this past election. I truly believe that this past election made some look at Augusta very differently. Maybe the electorate has become more engaged?
Let me very clear, Gov.Kemp will not win Augusta; however, his votes could possibly be somewhat higher than they were last time. Which, for a Democratic stronghold like Augusta, I believe Kemp would consider that a win.
Place your predictions down below for governor, lieutenant governor and the Warnock/Walker race. Let’s see how much mess we can start.
Let me end with this little story I heard and why it’s so important to be nice to people.
A woman was waiting at an airport for her hours-long flight. Since her flight was delayed, she had several hours on her hands.
So, she went to the airport shops and bought a book and a bag of cookies. She sat next to a man and started to read the book she had bought.
While she was engrossed in her book, she saw that the man beside her boldly grabbed a cookie from the cookie bag. She ignored the incident to avoid a scene.
She munched on some cookies from the bag and went back to her book. But the man seemed to have enjoyed the cookies way too much; he took some more cookies from the pack and started munching them.
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By the passing time, she was getting increasingly irritated as the cookie thief finished her cookie stock. Every time she took a cookie from the bag, he took one.
Finally, when the last cookie was left, the man nervously took that cookie and broke it in half. He offered the other half to the lady and smiled. The lady snatched the other half of the cookie from his and thought, “This guy has some nerve that even after eating a half bag of my cookies, he didn’t show any gratitude.”
She had been so galled by the man and was relieved when her flight was called. She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate, refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.
She boarded the plane and sat in her seat, reading her book. She reached her hand in her baggage; she was surprised to find a bag full of cookies in it.
If my cookies are here, she moaned in despair, the other one she was eating from was his bag of cookies, and he tried to share. While she was flushed with anger about her cookies, the man was happily sharing his cookies with her.
She was filled with feelings of guilt and regret. But, it was too late to apologize.
See how important it is to share, or was this story about taking the cookies out the bag?
Well, I’m sure some of these department heads have plenty to share. Maybe we will see some of them next when the…here I go—getting ahead of myself again.
Michael Meyers is a columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com
