The former mayor of Nicholson will spend 90 days in the Jackson County jail at the end of October, among other punishments, after he used tax money to pave a private roadway.
Ronnie Maxwell pleaded guilty to felony theft in July, although sentencing was postponed for a presentencing report, the Athens-Banner Herald reports.
“I’m 68 years old and I don’t have a speeding ticket,” he said, according to the Herald. “If I made a mistake I’ll live with my mistake.”
Maxwell was sentenced to a total of five years with one year under house arrest and 90 of those days in the county jail, with the remainder on probation, the paper reports. He will also be required to pay a restitution of $6,141 and serve 500 hours of community service.
The paper said defense attorney Walter Harvey asked that the 68 year old Maxwell serve one year under house arrest when Assistant District Attorney Paul Trifiletti asked for at least one year in prison. Maxwell, who has several health issues including uncontrolled diabetes, a previous heart attack, cellulitis and diverticulitis, has two doctor's appointments in October, so Judge Wayne D. McLocklin allowed him to begin serving his time on October 30.
The former mayor was arrested following a 2015 investigation in which the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined he used over $10,000 in Special Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax money to pay a roadway on his property, including a driveway to his mother's home.
Some of the paving was done on government property, and that resulted in a reduction in the restitution Maxwell will pay, the Herald said.
Trifiletti argued the theft was more serious than a dollar amount, the paper said, it was a violation of public trust of the SPLOST in Jackson County.
Maxwell was the mayor of Nicholson for 16 years. The Athens paper reported witnesses testifying at the hearing, including Maxwell's wife Gail and Nicholson City Judge David Jones, said Maxwell takes care of his 90 year old mother and has guardianship of a 4 year old child, whom the couple plans to adopt.
