COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A man found guilty and sentenced to prison isn’t serving his time there, and prosecutors say it’s because he’s getting special treatment.
Braxton Cotton, the former chief of staff to the Cobb County Sheriff, was convicted of making false statements in a hit-and-run investigation in March. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but ordered to serve just six months.
But the Cherokee County District Attorney’s office says it has taken too long for him to be transferred to a state prison.
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Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell was in the courtroom as attorneys discussed where Cotton is serving time.
“The things that are being done in order to ensure he doesn’t go are favoritism, are special treatment and things that no other inmate is receiving," Cherokee County Chief Assistant District Attorney Katie Gropper said.
The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office should have transported Cotton to the Georgia Department of Corrections to serve his time, but Cotton is still serving time at the Cobb County Jail.
“That is what the state is concerned about, to make sure that this is done the right way, as it would be done with any other citizen convicted of a felony,” Gropper said.
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The state is accusing the Cobb County clerk of court and sheriff of breaking the law.
“His paperwork was never transmitted to the Department of Corrections and he has continued to serve his sentence as he sought initially,” Gropper said. “The sheriff’s office is intentionally manipulating this process. That is abuse of power.”
Cobb County Chief Deputy Rhonda Anderson testified that she made the decision not to transport Cotton to state prison after she spoke with Sheriff Craig Owens and her command staff.
“Sheriff Owens received a call from the DOC and said it would not be a good idea to send Mr. Cotton into the state system because he was a member of the parole board and had been a member in law enforcement,” she said.
Newell spoke with Georgia Department of Corrections Commissioner Tyrone Oliver over the phone on Wednesday afternoon.
He said he did not call Sheriff Owens and advise him to keep Cotton in the Cobb County Jail for safety reasons. He said he does not have the authority to keep a state inmate at a county jail.
Oliver said his team emailed the clerk of courts in March asking if Cotton had been sentenced. He says they were told the clerk’s office filed the necessary paperwork and were waiting on paperwork from the sheriff’s office.
The paperwork was submitted to the Department of Corrections on Tuesday, one day after the motion hearing was filed.
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