GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News is getting new insight into the ongoing investigation into corruption in Gwinnett County.
A former federal prosecutor believes federal authorities are likely looking at several other people in the scandal.
Channel 2 crews were in federal court Thursday when ex-Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter, her son John Fanning, and Hall County businessman Carl 'Skip' Cain pleaded guilty to participating in a bribery scheme.
Former federal prosecutor Paul Monnin said long before they appeared in court, they likely spent months working closely with federal investigators.
"Perhaps her wearing a wire, perhaps her making consensual phone calls," Monnin told Channel 2's Kerry Kavanaugh.
Monnin is not connected to the case but weighed in based on his experience handling similar cases.
He said based on the number of months between when the trio committed their crimes and when they appeared in court, they may have had additional information investigators wanted.
"I can't say that it is necessarily other county leaders. It could be any stakeholders. It could be someone who is trying to sell land. It could be someone doing business with the county," Monnin said.
Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter vowed to weed out corruption two years ago. Another ex-commissioner, Kevin Kenerly, was indicted for taking bribes to influence land deals. And ex-board chairman Charles Bannister resigned to avoid a perjury indictment.
Last week, Porter publicly acknowledged his work with federal investigators isn't done yet.
"I would suspect that an ongoing part of the investigation is not only public officials, but also those individuals in Gwinnett who are willing to pay the bribes," Monnin said.
Monnin said there might be an effort to encourage others involved in similar schemes to come forward and start working out their own deals.
WSBTV
