TRENTON, Ga. - State investigators say former Dade County Sheriff Patrick Cannon stole thousands of dollars of public money to buy suits and pay off phone bills.
On Thursday, a Dade County grand jury indicted Cannon on 13 counts of theft by conversion and five counts of violation of oath by a public official. All 18 counts relate to accusations by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation that Cannon used county money to make purchases at Men's Warehouse and JCPenney, as well as to pay his family's phone bill with Verizon Wireless.
Cannon, who was sheriff from 2005-12, did not return a call seeking comment. His attorney, Chris Townley, said he could not speak about the case because Superior Court Judge Brian House issued a gag order Thursday morning.
But Townley added, "All I can tell you is, (Cannon) denies all the charges."
According to the indictment, Cannon used a county fund to make payments on his family's phone bill beginning in at least September 2010. From then until November 2012, he paid about $4,400 toward phone bills. He is accused of trying to make a final payment for about $650 in December 2012, his last month in office, but a county official stopped him.
Dade County Sheriff Patrick CannonOn Oct. 11, 2012, two months after losing a re-election bid to current Sheriff Ray Cross by 350 votes, Cannon went on a $3,400 shopping spree. According to the indictment, Cannon spent $2,800 at Men's Warehouse and $600 at JCPenney.
At the time, County Executive Ted Rumley called Cannon into his office after he saw the sheriff's credit card statement. According to Times Free Press archives, Cannon told Rumley the purchases were part of his uniform allowance, even though he was going to be out of office three months later.
Back then, Cannon said, "It's political propaganda to make me look bad. This is not the end of the story."
This is also not the first time the GBI investigated Cannon, though the earlier probe did not result in charges.
In February 2011, GBI Special Agent James Harris led an inquiry into whether Cannon took a local resident's goats and fences, sold them and kept the money for himself.
Hillard Allen Stevens, who is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, had been charged several times with cruelty to animals and was not allowed to own livestock. But when sheriff's investigators visited his Sand Mountain home, they found several malnourished goats.
They arrested Stevens and packed up his animals and his fences, and Cannon ordered them brought to his place. He later sold the animals at an auction, and his employees told the GBI he pocketed the proceeds.
Cannon denied this, saying the auction proceeds only covered the cost of the animals' care - something he said the county had to do after making the arrest. And investigators never saw the fences at Cannon's home. If they were there, they flew away in pieces when the 2011 tornado destroyed the sheriff's house.
When the tornado battered Dade County, Cannon was seen as a local hero, the sheriff who lost his own home but spent 20-hour days helping other storm victims in the county.
But his employees were meeting with the GBI around that time, accusing him of crimes. In addition to saying Cannon took Stevens' property, employees said Cannon sold a state-owned SUV and kept the money. They also said he paid a parking ticket and speeding ticket in Chattanooga with Dade County money, then told the judge he had only been speeding on that April 2010 day because he needed to investigate a homicide in Dade County. It was found later that no deaths had been reported.
Former Dade County Maj. Jackie Womack told the GBI then that Cannon was spending county money on his family phone plan, even though the county gave Cannon $150 for his own phone. According to the GBI investigative file, Cannon's family used six other phones.
At the time, Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herbert "Buzz" Franklin declined to prosecute Cannon after that investigation, saying the GBI did not find enough evidence to get a conviction.
Last November, when the Times Free Press told Cannon that the GBI was investigating him again, he said the charges were driven by politics, not facts.
He didn't know the specific charges, though. He said he was innocent. He challenged Franklin to take him to court.
"I'm going to embarrass him," he said, "and I'm going to put him on national news. I'm going to show him that just because you're a district attorney don't make it right to harass people."
Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at tjett@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6476.