PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. — The former school superintendent in Pickens County and his wife have pleaded guilty in a racketeering and theft case, the Georgia attorney general announced Monday.
AG Chris Carr said in a release that Wilson and his wife each pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering and one count of theft by taking, with the husband also pleading guilty to an additional six counts of varying theft charges.
The attorney general's release described a range of schemes Wilson committed to taking both public and private funds, sometimes using his positions of influence and other times simply defrauding business partners or even the county government.
In one instance, the AG described Wilson selling land that had been donated to a Boy Scouts troop in Pickens County, where he was active in leadership and "exercised control over the land" through his influence in the organization."
That property sale generated more than $26,000 that Wilson kept for himself and later spent on "personal expenses over a four-month period in late 2021."
Meanwhile, as an employee in the local District Attorney's Office, working in the victim advocacy department, Wilson incurred an injury and used up all his sick leave. He certified that he was still unable to work after the sick leave was exhausted, and the county allowed him to draw from a bank of employee-donated hours.
The AG's release described that, at this same time, he was still working for a private business - one with the same physical requirement as his DA's Office job - just fine. Under this scheme, he collected $6,000 in donated leave time from his fellow county employees.
Carr also described one long-running scheme in which Wilson and his wife embezzled money from a private business they shared with two partners.
Across a five-year period beginning in March 2017 and ending in February 2022, Wilson and his wife wrote checks for nearly $80,000 in total from the company which they deposited into personal accounts.
The AG's Office said they also took nearly $43,000 in cash from the company and redirected another roughly $24,000 in company revenue from a vendor to personal accounts.
The release did not detail any allegations against Wilson relating to the Pickens County School District he oversaw.
“Carlton and Cindy Wilson stole thousands of dollars from hardworking Georgians, and now they are facing the consequences of their illegal actions," Carr said in a statement. “This is a complex case that spans several years and involves multiple acts of theft, including the unlawful collection of taxpayer funds. This conviction is a major victory for all those who fell victim to the couple’s fraudulent and deceptive tactics, and we are proud to have worked with our local partners to put a stop to their criminal schemes.”
According to the AG's Office, sentencing for the Wilsons will occur at a later, unspecified date.
