Sias trial to begin March 28

Commissioner Sammie Sias

Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias.

Date: January 25, 2022

A March 28 trial date has been set for the city commissioner indicted on federal charges last summer.

Sammie Sias of Augusta Commission District 4 has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He remains free on bond.

Sias was replaced on the city commission after his indictment, although he still draws his salary of $17,258, as does Alvin Mason who replaced Sias.

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against Sias last July that accuses him of destruction, altercation or falsification of records in a federal investigation and making false statements. The allegations center on digital files of the Sandridge Community Association in August 2019.

Allegations of misappropriation of funds for the Jamestown Community Center arose in 2019. The Sandridge Community Association contracted with the city of Augusta to operate the Jamestown center. Sias founded the Sandridge Community Association.

Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com. 

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The Author

Award-winning journalist Sandy Hodson The Augusta Press courts reporter. She is a native of Indiana, but she has been an Augusta resident since 1995 when she joined the staff of the Augusta Chronicle where she covered courts and public affairs. Hodson is a graduate of Ball State University, and she holds a certificate in investigative reporting from the Investigative Reporters and Editors organization. Before joining the Chronicle, Hodson spent six years at the Jackson, Tenn. Sun. Hodson received the prestigious Georgia Press Association Freedom of Information Award in 2015, and she has won press association awards for investigative reporting, non-deadline reporting, hard news reporting, public service and specialty reporting. In 2000, Hodson won the Georgia Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, and in 2001, she received Honorable Mention for the same award and is a fellow of the National Press Foundation and a graduate of the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting boot camp.

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