A new trial date of July 18 has been set for Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias.
Sias has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court to charges of destroying, altering or falsifying records in a federal investigation and making false statements. The allegations concern his responses in 2019 to federal agents investigating the Jamestown Community Center allegedly under Sias’s control.
Sias, commissioner for district four, founded the Sandridge Community Association which held a contract for years with the city to operate the for years.
Federal prosecutors late last week asked U.S. District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall to postpone the start of Sias’s trial, which was set to begin March 28. In an order signed Wednesday, March 2, Hall wrote that he found the request to be in the interest of justice and not just a delay tactic. He reset the trial date for July 18 and the final pretrial hearing for July 14.
Sias has been free on bond since his indictment in August 2021.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
