Elizabeth Croley, Obstruction of Justice, Georgia 2023

Former Captain Sentenced for Withholding Evidence Favorable to a Defendant and Obstructing Justice

WASHINGTON – A former captain at the Decatur County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office was sentenced to 18 months in prison for willfully withholding evidence favorable to a criminal defendant and for writing a false report to cover up another law enforcement officer’s use of force against a civilian.

Elizabeth Croley, 37, was one of three defendants sentenced in connection with an incident at the Bainbridge BikeFest in September 2012. The incident involved former Grady County, Georgia, Deputy Sheriff Wiley Griffin IV, who used force against Aaron Parrish during an arrest.

In June 2015, a federal jury in Albany, Georgia, convicted Croley, Robert Wade Umbach, 36, and Christopher Kines, 36, of obstructing justice. The jury found that the defendants helped cover up Griffin’s actions, including writing false reports and lying to an FBI agent.

Croley was also convicted of violating Aaron Parrish’s constitutionally protected right to a fair trial by intentionally withholding material exculpatory evidence from the district attorney’s office and Parrish’s defense attorney.

During the trial, the jury heard evidence that Griffin struck Parrish in the eye with a metal flashlight while Parrish was being restrained on the ground by other deputies, including defendants Kines and Umbach.

The government also presented evidence that, after Parrish complained to the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office about the abuse he suffered, the sheriff’s office opened a criminal investigation led by Croley that eventually resulted in felony criminal charges against Parrish.

“When law enforcement officers break the laws they swear to uphold and harm the people they promise to protect, it undermines public trust in our government,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

The case was investigated by the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office, and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Christine M. Siscaretti and Risa Berkower of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section, with support from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Georgia.

Defendant: Elizabeth Croley

Criminal Charges: Obstruction of Justice, Withholding Evidence Favorable to a Defendant

City and State: Decatur County, Georgia

Exact Date: June 2015 (sentencing)

Sentence: 18 months in prison

Defendants: Robert Wade Umbach, Christopher Kines

Criminal Charges: Obstruction of Justice

Sentence: 15 months in prison

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdga/pr/former-captain-sentenced-withholding-evidence-favorable-defendant-and-obstructing