Snellville mayor takes deal, avoids jail in criminal case

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A local mayor is avoiding jail time for a long list of alleged financial crimes after taking a plea deal.

Some of the more than 60 charges against Snellville Mayor Tom Witts included spending campaign money on porn sites and cruises.

[READ: Mayor accused of using campaign money for vacation, porn turns himself in]

Channel 2’s Tony Thomas was the only television reporter in the courtroom Monday as Witts stood before a judge and entered an Alford plea, basically conceding District Attorney Danny Porter had enough evidence to likely convict him without admitting guilt.

“Mr. Witts was using campaign funds to pay personal finances,” Porter said.

Those finances, prosecutors say, included rent for his business, cruises for his family and membership to a porn site.

[READ: Governor suspends Snellville mayor following indictment on misuse of campaign funds]

He's also accused of owing $150,000 in state taxes and undercutting city bids so his own company could do the work.

The 72-year-old Witts faced 66 charges but entered the plea to 11 of them.

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"I’m not pleading guilty to anything," Witts said. “Quite honestly, if I had the physical and financial wherewithal, I would have fought it to the end.”

After the hearing, Witts told Thomas he has to focus on both his and his wife's cancer treatments.

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Under the deal, he'll also pay $40,000 toward any tax settlement and resign as mayor immediately. He suspended himself last year.

“It would not surprise me, particularly in Snellville, there are some who are unhappy with the sentence,” Porter said. “There are going to be people who wanted him thrown under the jail.”

“What do you want to say to the citizens of Snellville?” Thomas asked Witts.

“I'm very proud of everything I did for the city of Snellville. I think I left Snellville in a better place than I found it,” Witts said.

[READ: Snellville mayor voluntarily suspends himself from duties following indictment]

Witts said he plans on resigning Jan. 1, but Porter said after Monday’s plea, he believes immediately means today.

Snellville administrators told Thomas they have no comment so far and have not received a resignation letter from Witts.

Witts has colon cancer, which is one reason the prosecutor agreed to no prison time.

If he had been convicted and given the maximum sentence on all 66 charges, Witts could have been given 506 years behind bars.

With this deal, he’ll serve six months of house arrest.

Cox Media Group