TOWNS COUNTY, Ga. — The suspended Towns County sheriff officially resigned after accepting a plea deal on charges including violation of oath of office.
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Sheriff Kenneth Henderson, 67, also faced one count of simple battery of an officer, and one count of sale of personal property to a government agency.
Frank Wood, District Attorney Appalachian Judicial Circuit Courts, said Henderson was sentenced to 10 years of probation, with it eligible to terminate after five years.
Henderson also is not allowed to run for office during that time.
Charges stemmed from a confrontation with a Hiawassee police officer in 2024, as well as the sale of a side-by-side vehicle Henderson owned to the sheriff’s office.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested and charged the former sheriff in July.
Agents determined that a check had been written to Henderson from one of the Towns County Sheriff’s Office bank accounts, according to the GBI.
Henderson and one of his deputies were also indicted in October for a Dec. 13, 2024, incident when Hiawassee Ofc. Jose Carvajal was falsely detained and arrested.
He was accused of insulting Carvajal and physically battering him in an “insulting and provoking manner,” while Carvajal performed his duties as a police officer.
Gov. Brian Kemp had appointed an investigative committee in June to look into the allegations.
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