{"id":70325,"date":"2016-03-16T16:05:07","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T20:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/?p=70325"},"modified":"2016-03-16T16:07:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T20:07:51","slug":"just-in-former-sheriffs-captain-sentenced-in-cover-up-of-beating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breaking911.com\/just-in-former-sheriffs-captain-sentenced-in-cover-up-of-beating\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Sheriff’s Captain Sentenced In Cover-Up of Beating"},"content":{"rendered":"
ATLANTA – The Justice Department announced today that Elizabeth Croley, 37, a former captain at the Decatur County, Georgia, Sheriff\u2019s Office, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for willfully withholding evidence favorable to a criminal defendant and for writing a false report to cover up another law enforcement officer\u2019s use of force against a civilian.\u00a0 Robert Wade Umbach, 36, and Christopher Kines, 36, both former deputies at the Decatur County Sheriff\u2019s Office, were also sentenced to 15 months in prison for making false statements to help cover up the use of force.<\/p>\n
In June 2015, a federal jury in Albany, Georgia, convicted the defendants after a trial that lasted more than two weeks.\u00a0 The charges arose from a September 2012 incident in which former Grady County, Georgia, Deputy Sheriff Wiley Griffin IV \u2013 who is the son of Decatur County Sheriff Wiley Griffin III \u2013 used force against Aaron Parrish during an arrest at the Bainbridge BikeFest.\u00a0 The jury found that Croley, Kines and Umbach obstructed justice when they later helped cover up Griffin\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n
Specifically, the jury convicted Croley of obstructing justice by writing a false report and convicted Kines and Umbach of engaging in misleading conduct by lying to an FBI agent about the incident.<\/p>\n
Croley was also convicted of violating Aaron Parrish\u2019s constitutionally protected right to a fair trial by intentionally withholding material exculpatory evidence from the district attorney\u2019s office, and in turn, from Aaron Parrish\u2019s criminal defense attorney during a criminal prosecution of Parrish.<\/p>\n