PICKENS COUNTY, Ga. — A former Pickens County school superintendent and his wife have been sentenced to prison for theft and racketeering.
Carlton Wilson and his wife, Cindy, plead guilty to embezzling funds from a private business they shared with two others, according to a release from the Attorney General's Office.
Prosecutors said the Wilsons wrote checks amounting to $79,069 from the company and deposited it into their personal account, which spanned for almost five years.
The pair also redirected $24,398.24 in company revenue from a vendor to their personal bank account, while also swiping $42,800 in cash from the company, the release said.
In addition to embezzling funds, prosecutors said Carlton Wilson also took money from a Pickens County Boy Scouts troop.
In 2009, a private landowner donated 10 acres of land to the troop while Wilson was active with the group. Wilson, who exercised control over the land, sold the property years later. The former superintendent then pocketed the $24,420 made from the purchase, prosecutors said.
While Carlton Wilson was employed at the District Attorney's Office in the victim advocacy department, he also unlawfully collected paychecks in donated leave.
Prosecutors said that in 2021 and 2022, he had a serious physical injury and exhausted his paid sick leave. Once it was certified that he couldn't work, Pickens County let him draw from a bank of employee-donated hours.
While Pickens was on leave, he worked at a private business that had the same physical requirements, illegally collecting more than $6,000 in donated leave, attorneys said.
Carlton Wilson, a former teacher, school principal, magistrate judge, school superintendent, businessman and victim advocacy director for the district attorney's office pleaded guilty to several charges which are outlined below.
He was sentenced to 15 years, with the first three to be served in prison and the rest on probation. His wife, Cindy Wilson, was also sentenced to 15 years with the first two years to be served in prison and the remainder on probation.
The couple must also pay $95,802.02 in restitution to the Boy Scouts, Pickens County government and the Appalachian Gun Range.
Carlton Wilson plead guilty to:
- One count of racketeering
- One count of theft by taking
- Six counts of theft by taking by a fiduciary
- One count of theft by deception
- One count of theft by conversion
Cindy Wilson plead guilty to:
- One count of racketeering
- One count of theft by taking
