By John Ogunsemore
A former government official in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, Jimmie Anthony “Jim” Beard, was on Tuesday sentenced to three years in prison for abusing his position to steal public money and obstructing the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) when he served as the City of Atlanta’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Beard is also to undergo three years of supervised release and has been ordered to pay $177,197.48 in restitution and a $10,000 fine.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Tuesday.
The 60-year-old was in September 2020 charged in an eight-count federal indictment with wire fraud, theft from the government, possession of machine guns, making a false statement, and obstructing federal tax laws.
“Jim Beard allegedly abused his position as one of the most powerful executives in the City of Atlanta to commit federal crimes for his own gain, including stealing tens of thousands of dollars of the public’s money, possessing machine guns that members of the public cannot have, and obstructing an IRS audit,” US Attorney Byung J. Pak said at the time.
In early August, he pleaded guilty to federal programme theft and to obstructing an IRS audit.
According to court documents, from 2011 to 2018, Beard of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, oversaw the City of Atlanta’s Department of Finance, in which his primary responsibility was to manage the city’s financial condition.
Prosecutors said at least as early as 2015, Beard devised and executed a scheme to use his authority as CFO to obtain money and property from Atlanta for his own use, including to pay for thousands of dollars in personal travel expenses for himself, his family, and his travel companions, and to buy and possess restricted machine guns.
“Further, while CFO, Beard submitted years of fraudulent tax returns in which he claimed personal business expenses to lower what he owed in taxes.
“During a 2015 audit of one of those returns, Beard lied to the IRS and obstructed auditors by submitting receipts for transactions that were actually paid by the City of Atlanta in connection with Beard’s official duties.
“The investigation later revealed that Beard had no personal business, and years of tax deductions were based on a lie,” the DoJ said.