Hugh Stephen Worley, Bribery, Georgia 2016

A former public works director in Georgia will spend 31 months behind bars for his role in a bribery scheme that cost the city of Monroe thousands of dollars.

Hugh Stephen Worley, 54, of Bethlehem, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge C. Ashley Royal on May 24, 2016, for one count of bribery. Worley was also ordered to pay $18,000 in restitution to the city of Monroe and forfeit an additional $18,000.

Worley, who served as director of public works for the city of Monroe in Walton County, Georgia, for approximately 17 years, was terminated in January 2013 for “violations of personnel policies and procedures.” One such violation involved the rental of an asphalt paver from a local company, Sims Paving Inc.

In 2008 or 2009, Sims Paving Inc. acquired an asphalt paver that could be used for small patching and paving jobs. Worley went to see the owner, Mr. Sims, about a paver that could be used for smaller jobs, such as paving the driveways in the city of Monroe cemetery. In 2012, Mr. Sims and Worley came to a verbal agreement that the city would rent the paver for a total of $20,000 over four months. After the agreement, Worley told Mr. Sims on four separate occasions that he could use $1,000. He did not tell Mr. Sims about his need for the cash until after the agreement for the paver rental.

Fearful that Worley would renege on the rental deal, Mr. Sims gathered $1,000 together on the four separate occasions. The paver was never used to pave the cemetery driveways or for any other municipal purpose. It sat idle at a cost of $20,000 to the city of Monroe.

“Mr. Worley abused the trust placed in him by the people of the city of Monroe,” said Acting U.S. Attorney G. F. “Pete” Peterman, III. “Now, as a direct result, he will face the consequences of violating public corruption laws by serving time.”

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Athens division. Assistant U.S. Attorney Danial Bennett prosecuted the case for the government.

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