Tim Madison, the former District Attorney of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit, pled guilty today in Banks County Superior Court. Madison had served as District Attorney for twenty-four years until he became the focus of a state investigation by Attorney General Thurbert Baker and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation into payroll schemes by a former Assistant District Attorney as well as Madison’s current wife, who served as a victim/witness coordinator in Jackson and Banks counties. Madison submitted his resignation from office in June 2007 at the height of the investigation. Madison was subsequently indicted, along with former ADA Brett Williams and Victim/Witness Coordinator Linn Madison, f/k/a Linn Jones, on August 28, 2007.

Madison pled to all of the charges in the indictment, which included two felony theft charges, one felony count of violation of oath of office, four felony counts of false statements and writings, and one felony count of conspiracy to defraud a political subdivision. Charges remain outstanding against Brett Williams (2 felony theft charges and one felony count of violation of oath of office) and Linn Madison (four felony counts of false statements and writings and one felony count of conspiracy to defraud a political subdivision). Senior Superior Court Judge Robert Mallis, formerly of the Dekalb Judicial Circuit, presided over the plea due to the recusal of all of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit judges, and Mallis sentenced Madison to six years in prison, to be followed by six years on probation. Madison was also ordered to pay approximately $40,000.00 in restitution.

Attorney General Baker, in announcing the plea and sentence, stated that “today’s sentencing will go a long way towards removing the tarnish from the judicial system in the Piedmont Circuit.” Baker went on that “the criminal actions of a few have cast a pall over many, but the prison sentence given to Madison today reflects that the corruption was attributable to individuals, not the entire system.”

The criminal counts against Madison and Williams arose out of their scheme to bill Banks County for a full-time salary for Williams, with Williams and Madison splitting those funds, despite the fact that Williams, as a full-time state funded ADA, already had his salary paid for by the State of Georgia. The criminal counts against Madison and his wife center around time sheets that Linn Madison submitted to Banks County. The indicted counts center on time sheets reflecting that Linn Madison was working in Banks County, yet on 2 of the days her credit card revealed that she was in Florida, one of the days her card revealed she was on a cruise ship based out of Brunswick, Georgia, and one of the days had her card showing that she was in San Diego, California.

Prosecution of this case was handled by Senior Assistant Attorneys General David McLaughlin and Kimberly Schwartz. The investigation was handled by Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John Cagle and Special Agent Brian Whidby.