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Ex-sheriff investigator arrested

OnlineAthens.com, Athens Banner-Herald
BYLINE: Merritt Melancon -
Link to Article

Madison County, GA

Charged with theft, tampering with evidence

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested a former Sheriff's Office investigator Monday on charges of stealing prescription pills from drug cases he worked.

Donald Glenn Carr, 45, of Danielsville, was charged with theft by taking, tampering with evidence and violation of his oath of office.

Carr is suspected of taking prescription pills that had been seized as evidence in at least one drug case, according to Jim Fullington, special agent in charge of the GBI's Athens office.

Carr was booked into the Madison County Jail on Monday and later released on $10,000 bond. Both tampering with evidence and violating an oath of office are felonies, Fullington said.

Carr, who worked for the sheriff's office for 17 years, resigned at the end of September, citing personal issues, said Chief Deputy Shawn Burns.

Sheriff's deputies didn't know the pills were missing until months after Carr resigned, Fullington said.

An officer logs evidence like drugs into a secure evidence locker, where it usually stays until the case goes to court or until the defendant pleads guilty, Fullington said. When officers went to pick up evidence for a case Carr had investigated, they noticed some items were missing, he said.

"Somebody else went to retrieve the evidence from his cases, and that's when they noticed that there were inconsistencies there," Fullington said.

The sheriff's office contacted the GBI last week about the missing evidence, Fullington said. Agents quickly narrowed their investigation to Carr, he said.

Two kinds of pills were missing, but Fullington would not identify the types of drugs or how many came up missing.

The missing pills came only from cases Carr had handled, he said.

The missing evidence is going to affect the prosecution of at least one case, Burns said.

However, it is too soon to tell how many other cases, if any, might be affected, both Burns and Fullington said.

Prosecutors might have to drop charges in some cases if the sheriff's office can't produce the evidence, Fullington said. However, in some cases, prosecutors may be able to move forward without one particular piece of missing evidence, he said.

The investigation continues, but there is no indication that anyone else at the Madison County Sheriff's Office was involved, Fullington said.

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