Undeterred by his loss in court and recent sentence to three years in federal prison, former Augusta commissioner Sammie Sias is appealing his sentence.
Sias filed a notice in U.S. District Court Friday of the appeal he’ll file with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Sias pleaded not guilty last year to charges he destroyed computer files concerning a sales tax project for which he had oversight, and not guilty of lying to an FBI agent who sought the files.
After a five-day trial, a Richmond County jury found Sias guilty of both crimes, which carried a combined sentence of up to 20 years in prison. His sentencing was delayed for 11 months while he secured a court-appointed lawyer and appealed the verdict.
Chief U.S. District Judge J. Randal Hall last month denied Sias’ motion for a new trial on grounds his lawyers were ineffective and evidence was insufficient to convict him.
On June 20, Hall sentenced Sias to 36 months in federal prison and 36 months of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $5,000 fine. The judge ordered Sias, 69, to surrender himself to prison officials voluntarily by 2 p.m. Aug. 21.
The case is unlike other Augusta public corruption scandals in recent history in that Sias has remained free on bond throughout his investigation, indictment, trial and since his July 2022 conviction.
Former Senate Majority Leader Charles W. Walker Sr. and former state Rep. Robin Williams each filed multiple appeals but did so from prison, where each reported shortly after being sentenced for public corruption.
Walker and Williams were housed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Estill, S.C. for most of nine years each.
Sias requested Estill as his facility but it may not be available. The medium-security prison was heavily damaged by a 2020 tornado and it currently houses fewer than 100 inmates.
There’s also a federal prison in Edgefield with a capacity of 1,900.
Former Augusta Fire Marshal Jason Beard, convicted of extorting money from nightclubs, spent approximately three years at Edgefield prior to his release in 2019.
Under the terms of Sias’ supervised release, all his personal property and financial records are subject to surrender and examination by law enforcement.
