Former DeKalb commissioner convicted of extortion
Sharon Barnes Sutton
ATLANTA - A federal jury has convicted a former DeKalb County commissioner of extortion.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Sharon Barnes Sutton was found guilty of extorting a DeKalb County subcontractor in connection with a $1.8 million contract.
Court documents alleged Sutton demanded monthly payments ranging from $500 to $1,000 in 2014. She accepted a $5,000 cash bribe, prosecutors say.
She was found guilty of two counts of extortion.
A federal judge will sentence the 63-year-old Stone Mountain woman in January. She faces up to 20 years in prison.
A federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia indicted her in 2019.