I’ve lived in Newton County, Ga., the vast majority of my life. It’s a lovely community to live in; you might even recognize some of the sights and sounds of the county from the many film and television productions that have made us famous over the years.
Just like any other community, we’ve had our share of political intrigue and scandal. An old boys' (and girls') club dominated local politics for a long time. The first female mayor of Covington, the county seat, dealt with scandal during her time in office in the ‘90s. (Our second female mayor is a friend of mine who is doing an amazing job, largely because she cares more about serving the people of Covington than what other people think about her.)
Our biggest corruption has taken place at the county level. We’re still reeling from a corrupt former county attorney who was on retainer for a million dollars a year even as he was pushing for projects that lined his pockets further, only to discover that certain county departments are still paying him a pretty penny for his services.
Local politics have changed in recent years thanks to demographic shifts on the west side of the county, transforming Newton from a more Republican-leaning county to a Democrat-leaning county. In many countywide races this year, no Republicans ran because they knew it was impossible to win, but among the Democratic candidates in this year’s primary, two camps emerged: those who were favorable to the former attorney and those who chose to distance themselves from him.
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What’s unfortunate is that the Democrats of Newton County have plenty of corruption of their own to answer for. Just last week, a federal grand jury hit Newton County Board of Commissioners Chairman Marcello Banes and local attorney Stephanie Lindsey with an indictment for money laundering.
“This is a case of a public official breaking the public’s trust to enrich himself and a realtor who did not serve her client, but instead, assisted the public official in breaking the law,” said Demetrius Hardeman, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
The press release details the corruption:
In 2018, a company identified in the indictment as “Company A” expressed an interest in purchasing approximately 40 acres of the JDA’s [Joint Development Authority, a four-county authority tasked with bringing industrial investment to the area] land for commercial development. Banes responded to Company A’s interest in the parcel by coordinating a brokerage agreement between Company A and Lindsey by which Company A would pay Lindsey’s CSL Realty Group (CSL) $150,000 upon completion of Company A’s purchase of the parcel.
The indictment alleges that at the time Company A entered this brokerage agreement, Banes and Lindsey misled Company A into believing that the commission was only intended for Lindsey. Neither Banes nor Lindsey disclosed to Company A that Lindsey would pay most of the commission — which was contingent on the JDA voting to approve the sale — to Banes. Had Company A’s owners known Banes would receive any of the commission, they would not have entered the brokerage agreement.
Lindsey also won the Democrat primary for District 3 commissioner with no Republican running in November. Banes also defeated a primary challenger to run unopposed in the general election. No doubt Newton County residents who voted in the primary in May might have chosen differently if they had known how corrupt these candidates were.
But the greatest corruption here is taking place at the Newton County Sheriff’s Office (NCSO). In May, I shared with you about a debacle involving an inmate who escaped from deputies at a local hospital. The sheriff’s lack of transparency and accountability exacerbated his department’s ineptitude.
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More recently, the sheriff’s office arrested one of its own. Last week, authorities arrested 31-year-old Akima Martin, a detention officer, for having an inappropriate relationship with a female inmate. But that’s not the only issue facing the sheriff’s office regarding bad employee behavior.
I made a FOIA request for the total number of lawsuits the NCSO had faced in the 15 years that Sheriff Ezell Brown has helmed the department, and I haven’t received an answer yet. Currently, the NCSO is battling two lawsuits totaling $6 million. One of them is a $1 million suit involving a car accident with a deputy, but it’s the $5 million one I want to focus on.
According to the lawsuit, in the early hours of July 8, 2023, Deputy George Rahming was on patrol when he approached a woman who was looking for a ride. She accepted his offer for a ride in his patrol car, and he stopped at a convenience store, bought her a snack and a drink, and started asking her to perform lewd acts on him. When she said she wasn’t a prostitute, he replied, "I have no intention of arresting you, I just want that a**."
Rahming took the woman to a wooded area near a middle school and raped her. What the lawsuit alleges next is the most astonishing part:
During the act, Ms. Jennings saw two patrol cars pull up to the area but watched as they quickly turned around and drove away. Rahming informed her, "When one of us see one of us parked back here, they leave us alone. They know what goes on."
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Rahming, and the NCSO fired him. But the suit alleges that the problems within the NCSO go beyond a bad deputy, stating that “the County and NCSO had in place a policy, practice or custom that permitted and may have encouraged NCSO deputies to engage in criminal activity with citizens of Newton County, including” the plaintiff.
I’m hoping, praying, and, of course, voting for change in the county I’ve called home for so many years. We give a lot of attention to the “big” elections — the ones that have the largest impact — and rightly so. But take it from me: your local elections matter. Don’t forget to make your voice heard in those, too.
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