The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit confirmed Monday that a Macon businessman convicted and sent to prison for his role in a complex scheme to defraud the Bibb County School District (BCSD) of millions of dollars will pay back taxpayers and serve his full prison sentence, announced Charles “Charlie” Peeler, the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia.
Dave Carty, 49, of Macon, was found guilty on February 1, 2019 of one count of wire fraud following a week-long trial before U.S. District Judge Marc Treadwell. Carty was sentenced to 50 months in prison and ordered to pay $1,920,853.36 in restitution. Carty appealed, and on July 21, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Carty’s conviction and the sentence imposed by Judge Treadwell. A co-defendant, Isaac Culver, was found guilty in July 2018 by a jury of his peers for conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, mail fraud, conspiracy to launder the proceeds of unlawful activity and ten counts of wire fraud. Mr. Culver was sentenced to 87 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Mr. Culver was also ordered to pay $1,920,853.36 in restitution. Mr. Culver appealed his conviction and sentence, and that appeal is pending in the Eleventh Circuit.
“Carty and his co-defendant ran a scam to defraud the Bibb County School District of $2 million by hiding their participation in the sale of computers to the district, to the detriment of every child in a BCSD classroom. Prior to trial, this pair did not accept responsibility for their actions, but a jury held them accountable. Post-trial, they still would not accept responsibility for their criminal conduct. Thankfully, the Eleventh Circuit has held Mr. Carty accountable by affirming his conviction and the judge’s sentence. Carty cannot run from justice. He will pay the price for the scheme,” said U.S. Attorney Peeler.
This case was investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danial Bennett and Beth Howard prosecuted the case for the Government with participation and cooperation of Special Assistant U.S. Attorney David McLaughlin from the Georgia Office of the Attorney General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Schieber handled the appeal.
