NE Ga. DA hears theft case of coastal Ga. judge

WOODBINE - A Camden County judge has left office after pleading guilty to three criminal charges.

District Attorney Brian Rickman of the Mountain Judicial Circuit in northeast Georgia told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Probate Judge Shirley Wise pleaded guilty to three counts -- theft by taking, theft by deception and violation of her oath of office.

Rickman said Wise was sentenced under the First Offender Act to seven years on probation and fined $1,000.

He said Wise also gave more than $5,500 in restitution to the Camden County Board of Commission. Wise also agreed to not seek or accept appointment to a judicial office in the future.

The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission had filed ethics accusations against the southeast Georgia judge in October and forwarded its findings to the state Attorney General's Office.