Former Stonecrest Mayor expected to report to prison over COVID relief fraud
STONECREST, Ga. - The former mayor of Stonecrest, Georgia will report to prison this week, nearly one year after pleading guilty to stealing almost $1 million in COVID relief funds his city was tasked with handing out.
In July, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Thrash sentenced Stonecrest ex-mayor Jason Lary to 57 months in federal prison and ordered him to pay nearly $120,000 in restitution.
Lary, 60, pleaded guilty in January to wire fraud, federal program theft and conspiracy to commit federal program theft. He was the first mayor in Stonecrest, a 59,000-resident city in southeastern DeKalb County that incorporated in 2017.
As mayor, federal authorities say he took control of who received $6.2 million in CARES Act money and worked behind the scene wish an organization known as Municipal Resource Partners Corporation, Inc. ("MRPC") to disburse the funds. .
Lary asked potential recipients to kickback 25% of their grant to other companies, which he said would use the money for tourism promotion, advertising and rent assistance. But prosecutors say he funneled $650,000 of the funds to himself, using some to pay back taxes and the mortgage on his lake house.
Jason Lary wanted home confinement. Instead, he was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison. (Art by Lucy Luckovich)
In one case, federal investigators alleged that Lary gave a church $150,000 under the condition that they would give a third of the money to a company called Real Estate Management Consultants LLC, which Lary controlled.
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An internal Stonecrest investigation found evidence of poor record keeping, misuse and the kickback scheme in Stonecrest’s program to distribute funds it received last year from the federal CARES Act program.
Defense lawyers had argued Lary should spend no time in prison, citing his cancer treatments, cooperation with prosecutors, early payment of some restitution and prior community service.
Defense attorney Dwight Thomas argued in court papers that Lary had been "humbled, humiliated, isolated and treated like a leper" since his crimes became public.
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Arguing against leniency, Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor Wilmot characterized Lary as "not forthcoming" in his conversations with investigators.
Wilmot said the residents of Stonecrest had deserved an honest and dependable mayor.
"What they got instead, unfortunately, was a crook," he said.
The former mayor is expected to reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Montgomery, Alabama on Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.