Three convicted deputies to hear sentence in December

Published 10:52 pm Friday, September 25, 2015

The three convicted former Decatur County Sheriff’s Office deputies will hear their respective sentences December 10 before U.S. District Court Judge W. Louis Sands in Albany.

The trio was convicted in June after being charged in an incident at BikeFest 2012 and a subsequent cover up. Aaron Parrish was in an altercation with a Grady County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Wiley Griffin, IV, at BikeFest.

Griffin, IV was acquitted of his charge of Deprivation of Rights Under the Color of Law.

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Former DCSO captain Liz Croley was found guilty on two counts: Deprivation of Rights Under the Color of Law and False Reporting. The jury’s verdict was that Croley deprived Parrish’s rights to a fair criminal trial for his conduct at Bikefest by writing false reports.

Former DCSO deputy Robert Wade Umbach was found not guilty for False Reports, but found guilty for Tampering With Witness Evidence. Umbach was involved in the altercation with Parrish, but reported false information to FBI special agent Steve McDermott about Griffin, IV’s, involvement with Parrish.

Former DCSO deputy Christopher Kines was also charged with the same counts as Umbach. He was found not guilty for False Reports but found guilty for Tampering With Witness Evidence for the same reasons as Umbach.