GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — A former supervisor in the Glynn County Department of Public Works has been sentenced to federal prison and ordered to repay money he illegally gained from using his county purchasing card, as well as cards belonging to other employees. William Richards, 51, from Brunswick, owes the Glynn County government $422,168 from his spending spree, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
Richards was sentenced to 30 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
The Glynn County Police Department and FBI initiated an investigation in to Richards in 2023 after another Public Works employee noticed suspicious charges on his county purchasing card.
Richards was responsible for coding and reconciling purchases made with the department's credit cards. The investigation determined that he had been making fraudulent purchases for two years. He had also been making payments to a pretend company that he created, then putting that money into his own account, the DOJ said.
During his guilty plea, Richards admitted he “used the proceeds of this fraudulent scheme to make numerous personal purchases, including the purchase of lottery tickets.”
“This type of fraud increases costs for all taxpayers in this country and erodes public trust in government,” said Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta. “The FBI is committed to holding corrupt individuals, like Richards, accountable for their greed.”
Court documents show Richards said he was using the money for gambling, which he believes was a "means of coping with PTSD caused by past abuse and war-related trauma, exacerbated by a succession of personal tragedies" which included the death of three close family members.
When Richards was granted bond in May, he checked into the VA Hospital in Dublin, Georgia, where he underwent "daily counseling and other treatments to confront his PTSD and to manage and control those coping behaviors (such as compulsive gambling) that led to the offense conduct," documents show.
His counsel had asked the court for an 18-month sentence, a year less than he ultimately received.
