PIKE COUNTY, Ga. -- The state attorney general is requesting the Georgia Bureau of Investigation look into allegations that a judge deposited thousands of dollars from the court registry into his personal account.
In a letter to GBI Director Vernon Keenan, Senior Assistant Attorney General David McLaughlin said the matter was brought to his attention by District Attorney Ben Coker.
McLaughlin said he would be prosecuting the case against Judge Robert "Mack" Crawford on behalf of the attorney general and was asking the state investigative agency look into the claims.
"This matter involves Judge Crawford's alleged direction to the Pike County Clerk of Superior Court to write the judge a check in an amount exceeding $15,0000 from the registry of the court," McLaughlin said. "And the judge's alleged depositing of the check into his personal checking account."
Under Georgia law, the attorney general is authorized to prosecute officials for violations while dealing with or for the state.
Money connected to various cases is kept in the court registry - a bank account - as it awaits dispersal to those who are awarded in those cases. Because of that, it doesn't belong to the county, the court or the judge.
