The husband of former DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer was sentenced today to a year and a day in federal prison, ajc.com is reporting.
John Boyer pleaded guilty earlier this year to arranging a kickback scheme benefiting the couple. He will serve a year and a day in a federal prison camp.
“John Boyer used his wife’s position as a DeKalb County Commissioner to steal thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds,” said U.S. Attorney John A. Horn in a U.S. Department of Justice press release. “The Boyers’ scheme put county money in their pockets and ultimately left the citizens of DeKalb County holding the tab. In a county that has recently seen its share of corruption cases, this is a particularly sad chapter.”
Elaine Boyer is already in federal prison, serving a 14-month sentence for corruption involving personal spending with a county-issued Visa card.
Rooks Boynton, an evangelist, was indicted last week on federal corruption charges for his alleged role in the kickback scheme. Prosecutors allege that the Boyers paid Boynton $85,000 in false consulting fees, then got a large portion of the money back as kickbacks.
The Boyers’ schemes are among several corruption scandals plaguing DeKalb County. Investigators hired by CEO Lee May to dig into the county’s problems recently declared the government to be “rotten to the core,” sparking criticism from May and a dispute about when that final report will be released.
Bonnie and Clyde Barker, Elaine and John Boyer. The first duo got what was coming to them. The second duo didn’t get enough. Light sentences don’t deter, they increase white collar crime.–Tom Reilly