A date has been set for the federal court arraignment of District 4 Commissioner Sammie Sias, per court officials close to the situation.
Sias is scheduled to appear before Federal Magistrate Judge Brian Epps in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia office in Augusta at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 4.
Sias was indicted July 7 by a federal grand jury on one count of destroying records and one count of lying to federal investigators.
MORE: Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias Indicted
The charges follow an August 2019 raid at Sias’ home that resulted in investigators seizing computers and boxes of documents.
Sias is continuing to serve on the Augusta Commission pending a decision by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who has the authority to remove him from office.
Visiting Augusta on Friday, Kemp said, “We’ve certainly been following that, our legal team has. I believe Monday would be the first day we could actually appoint a three-person panel to start reviewing that case. So, we’re working on that as we speak.”
Sias faces up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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