Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr announced this month that the office’s Prosecution Division has concluded its case against Judge William “Allen” Wigington, a former Chief Magistrate Judge in Pickens County.
Wigington was found guilty of one count of racketeering, three counts of fourth-degree forgery, five counts of theft by taking, 39 counts of unauthorized use of a financial transaction card, and one count of violation of oath of office. In total, his crimes amounted to 44 felonies and five misdemeanors. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He will serve five years in custody, followed by the remainder on probation.
“Mr. Wigington violated the public’s trust in the worst way, and he will now serve time for his deceitful behavior,” Carr said in a press release.
“I commend the work of our Prosecution Division, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office for uncovering the extreme lengths that Mr. Wigington went through to defraud his community. The theft of taxpayer funds will not go unpunished, and we will continue to root out this type of public corruption in our state.”
The investigation began when a local non-profit organization noticed Wigington paid his personal credit card bill using the non-profit bank account. Members of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office discovered Wigington used his county-issued credit card to purchase thousands of dollars of personal items from Amazon. They also discovered he double-billed the county for travel reimbursements. Wigington also stole $200 dollars designated to purchase a suit for a child whose family could not afford to purchase it, the press release said.
The GBI also said Wigington spent money inappropriately in New Orleans and on family vacations at the Disney Hotel.
Wigington was appointed chief magistrate judge of Pickens County in May of 2011. He resigned in February 2020, the press release said.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
