Sammie Lee Sias, a 68-year-old former city commissioner of Augusta, Georgia, received a three-year federal prison sentence on Tuesday. This follows his conviction last July for obstructing an investigation by deleting thousands of electronic files and lying to federal agents. The sentence, handed down by a U.S. District Court judge, concludes a case that began in 2019 when the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI launched a probe into allegations of misconduct, including the misuse of public funds, against Sias during his time on the Augusta commission.

Prosecutors revealed that Sias erased approximately 7,000 files from his laptop that were pertinent to the investigation. He subsequently misled an FBI agent, claiming he had provided all requested documents. However, investigators later recovered evidence of the deleted files from the computer. U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg emphasized the importance of the sentence as a deterrent, stating it would discourage both Sias and others in positions of public trust from betraying the community's confidence. The investigation was initially prompted by a request from Sias' fellow commissioners in 2019, following accusations of misconduct by a former employee who had a long-term extramarital relationship with Sias.

In addition to the prison term, Judge J. Randal Hall imposed a $5,000 fine and three years of supervised release upon Sias's eventual release from prison.