Attorney General Thurbert Baker announced today the successful prosecution of Rufus Green, a former Special Agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. After a 6 month investigation overseen by the Attorney General, Green faced indictment by the Sumter County Grand Jury today for forgery, false statements and violation of oath of office. Rather than face trial, Green entered a plea in Sumter County Superior Court today to a 29 count felony accusation. The guilty plea was taken by Judge George Peagler of the Southwestern Judicial Circuit; a sentencing hearing will take place in front of Judge Peagler in approximately 3 weeks.

While a GBI agent, Green was assigned to assist Crisp County law enforcement authorities in undercover drug investigations. He served as supervising agent on joint state and local law enforcement drug buys conducted in the Cordele area. A total of 56 case files were generated by the operation that he oversaw, and 25 of those files contained falsified or forged documents. He forged 11 arrest warrants and 13 crime lab reports, and he falsified 30 summary reports within those case files. Green even forged a fellow GBI agent’s signature on a chain of custody form. In total, Green faced indictment by the Sumter County Grand Jury on 67 felony counts of forgery in the first degree, false statement and violation of oath of office. Today’s guilty plea was to 25 counts of forgery in the first degree, 3 counts of false statement, and one count of violation of oath of office, and prosecutors will refrain from presenting the remaining counts to a grand jury based on today’s plea deal.

At his sentencing hearing, Green will face imprisonment of up to ten years on each of the felony charges and up to five years on each of the false statement and violation of oath charges. In announcing the sentence, Attorney General Baker stated, “It is paramount that the citizens of Georgia have a law enforcement structure in place that is beyond reproach. We have outstanding men and women serving in law enforcement around the state, and they serve as a bright light for all Georgians. Bad apples that are in the system, though, had better take this message to heart. Get out now, or get your toothbrush ready for a long stay in the state prison system.”

Assistant Attorney General David McLaughlin spearheaded the investigation and handled the prosecution for the Attorney General’s office. Special Agent John Heinen of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation worked the investigation for the GBI.