Waynesboro’s suspended mayor guilty of stealing from his private employer

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Date: April 13, 2022

The suspended mayor of Waynesboro pleaded guilty this week to theft and fraud charges.

Gregory Carswell entered his plea in Bulloch County Superior Court. Conditions of his 10-year probation sentence, imposed under the First Offender Act, require Carswell to repay the money he stole and an additional $1,000 fine.

Carswell has three months from Tuesday, April 12, to pay Check into Cash $5,000, according to court records.

Gov. Brian Kemp suspended Carswell’s term as mayor in May 2021 following the filing of the criminal charges, according to media reports at the time.

According to the indictment, between Sept. 30, 2019, and Jan. 23, 2020, Carswell stole from his employer, the Check into Cash, by creating two fake title pawn accounts.

A 150-180 day sentence in a state detention center was suspended, according to court records.
According to the Waynesboro newspaper, Carswell was elected in November 2021.

Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for 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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