HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — On Wednesday, Warner Robins development director Gary Lee turned himself in to the Houston County Sheriff's Office.
He was booked on three charges: two counts of falsely reporting a crime and one for making a false statement.
He was processed and released on $5,000 bond soon after.
According to Warner Robins Mayor Randy Toms, Gary Lee may have inadvertently set off the series of events that led him to that moment.
The indictments were the result of a months-long Houston County Sheriff's Office investigation that began in June of 2018 as a Warner Robins Police Department case.
It was an investigation Toms says Lee requested after the development director brought allegations of forgery at City Hall to the mayor's attention.
"Once he mentioned forgery, I said, 'Gary, now that's a crime. Do you want me to call the Warner Robins Police Department?' and he said, 'Yes, I do,'" said Toms. "So I picked up my cell phone and I called Chief Evans and he sent an investigator up."
The Warner Robins Police Department soon turned the case over to the Houston County Sheriff's Office in order to avoid any conflict of interest, but as the investigation continued, it appears Gary Lee's own actions and statements became a focus of the case.
"Some weeks ago," Houston County Sheriff's Office Captain Jon Holland said the case was turned over to the Houston County District Attorney's Office.
Tuesday, that case resulted in charges against Gary Lee.
A Houston County grand jury charged him with two counts of falsely reporting a crime -- one for falsely reporting a "Forgery in the Second Degree" and one for falsely reporting "the crime of Execution of a False Notarial Certificate."
According to the indictment, he was also charged with one count of making a false statement after he told an investigator "he did not sign his name to a City of Warner Robins, Alcohol and Controlled Substance Policy, Attachment D, Employee Consent and Notice form, when he did, in fact, sign said form..."
All charges stem from alleged activity in June of 2018. Lee has not been convicted of any of these crimes. However, if he is, the charge for making a false statement carries the most serious penalties.
Georgia code treats falsely reporting a crime as a misdemeanor. Making a false statement, on the other hand, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Warner Robins City Attorney Jim Elliott says Lee could also face workplace discipline.
"The code provides that immediate disciplinary action can be taken, including discharge," said Elliott.
The code he's referencing is from the Warner Robins city charter and its direction for handling indicted employees leaves some room for interpretation.
It says when a department director is indicted, the mayor "shall determine the appropriate action to be taken."
However, the code is less clear on what exactly the "appropriate" action is.
It goes on to say "if the offense(s) charged is also an offense against the employment relationship with the city, the appropriate disciplinary action should be instituted and the employee discharged if appropriate" (emphasis added). The charter does not clarify what specifically makes the discharge appropriate or not.
The charter later stipulates that an employee whose indictment is not directly related to city business but still "of a serious and aggravated nature so as to interfere with the employment relationship or embarrass the city may be suspended without pay" until the criminal case is resolved. Again, the language is not definitive.
Jim Elliott says that's on purpose.
"I think that's intentional," he said. "I don't recall the specific drafting of the ordinance, but I think you always do want whoever the decision-maker is to have the ability to use some discretion in what happens."
If Lee is disciplined, the issue may have to go before city council. Elliott says the Mayor can suspend a department director without pay for several weeks before having to get approval from council (council can, however, override that suspension with a simple majority vote if it chooses). If the mayor decides he wants to fire a department head, Elliott says he only has the power to suspend that employee and recommend that council terminate them by a simple majority vote.
"A final decision of that, if you will, has to be made by the city council," he said. "They can either reinstate a suspended director or they can terminate a suspended director."
Mayor Toms said he would analyze the charter and, with the help of Elliott, take appropriate action. As of 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, Lee had not received any formal city discipline.
Toms said he feels that city leaders have, by and large, been doing good work and working well together. He said these indictments are an outlier.
"I'm disappointed in the whole thing," he said. "I am not privy to the investigation. I don't know what was discovered. I'm just disappointed in the whole situation."
Over the phone Tuesday, Gary Lee declined to comment on the case. He did not return WMAZ's request for comment Wednesday.