ATLANTA (AP) – The city of Atlanta’s former chief financial officer pleaded guilty Monday to stealing money from the city for personal travel and guns and attempting to defraud the federal government of income taxes.
Jim Beard, 60, pleaded guilty in federal court in Atlanta to one count of federal program theft and one count of tax obstruction.
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U.S. District Judge Steve Jones is scheduled to sentence Beard on July 12. Mr. Beard could be sentenced to up to 13 years in prison, but his sentence is likely to be significantly reduced under federal guidelines.
The city of Atlanta’s former chief financial officer has pleaded guilty to stealing money from the city for personal travel and guns and attempting to defraud the federal government of income taxes.
Beard served as the city’s chief financial officer under Mayor Kasim Reed, managing the city’s finances from 2011 to 2018. Beard is the 10th person to be convicted in an anti-corruption investigation into the Reid administration. Most of the others were found guilty of offering and accepting bribes for city contracts. Reed himself has never been charged.
Beard admitted in his plea agreement that while he was in office, he used city money to pay for personal travel and illegally purchased two machine guns for himself.
Federal prosecutors said Beard stole tens of thousands of dollars from the city, but the complaint puts the theft at about $5,500.
That includes spending more than $1,200 for his stepdaughter to stay in a Chicago hotel room for three nights at a music festival in August 2015. Beard said he was there to discuss interest rates on city debt.
Beard also admitted to purchasing two custom-made machine guns from Georgia manufacturer Daniel Defense in 2015 using a city check for $2,641.90. Beard had claimed the gun belonged to the Atlanta Police Department — it’s generally illegal for civilians to own machine guns in the United States — but in 2017, the police department that oversees the mayor’s protection I kept it in my office until I forgot about it.
He also spent $648 on a flight to New Orleans in April 2016 to attend the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, but later told the IRS it was for personal consulting business. He then deducted the same expense from his income tax. Mr. Beard also hit a double bottom by charging the city nearly $1,000 for travel expenses to a New York meeting with bond regulators and then getting $1,276.52 back from the same agency.
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Mr. Beard also claimed $33,000 in losses from his consulting business on his 2013 income tax return, and the IRS ultimately allowed him to deduct $12,000 in business travel expenses he did not spend.
Under the plea, Beard agrees to relinquish ownership of the gun and make repayments to various entities, including the city of Atlanta.
