After sentencing, ex-Commissioner Sammie Sias plans new appeal

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Former Augusta Commissioner Sammie Sias revealed plans to appeal his conviction just days after being sentenced to prison for destroying records in a federal investigation.

Sias filed a notice of appeal 10 days after his June 20 sentencing to three years in prison.

He hasn’t yet been scheduled to report to federal prison to start serving his sentence. He requested to start serving his time in Estill, S.C., a couple of months after sentencing.

The judge also ordered Sias to pay a $5,000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

The grounds of his appeal haven’t been outlined yet, since the filing was a just a notice that he plans to appeal.

In July 2022, Sias was found guilty in July after a four-day federal trial and faced up to 20 years in prison.

Sias was convicted of destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations and false statement or representation made to a department or agency of the United States, said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

Sias was accused by a former employee of sexual misconduct, pocketing $10,000 of SPLOST funds and mistreating children at the Jamestown Community Center – a center he was long criticized for managing while serving as a commissioner.

One appeal was already denied before his sentencing.

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