ByAmanda Aguilar|December 10, 2020 at 4:27 PM EST - Updated December 10 at 7:27 PM
BULLOCH COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A Bibb County grand jury indicted 16 people in a gambling and racketeering investigation, covering multiple counties, including Chatham and Bulloch.
One of the four public officials indicted includes Bulloch County Schools’ safety director.
According to that 62-page indictment, Larry Todd Mashburn was a captain at the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office when investigators say he was bribed in 2017 by a Statesboro business owner, also indicted, with several benefits and gifts.
Macon-Bibb County District Attorney David Cooke announced Mashburn’s indictment on Wednesday. It stems from a gambling and racketeering investigation into S&W Amusements, which led up to several arrests in 2019.
The indictment states Statesboro business owner Nital “Nick” Raval would bribe then-Captain Mashburn with gifts. Such as loans, money, the use of Raval’s car, liquor, and a watch.
In return, the indictment states Mashburn provided Raval with a Bulloch County Sheriff’s office ID and badge, assist with traffic citations and additional law enforcement protection.
“Now, there’s this expectation of getting away with it. Just because you pay off someone in law enforcement, you think you can escape justice,” said Macon-Bibb County D.A. David Cooke.
Mashburn was hired in 2018 as the Bulloch County school safety director.
According to the school district, Mashburn is still employed, saying, “Todd Mashburn has been forthcoming with Superintendent Charles Wilson about the indictment stemming from alleged incidents that occurred during his employment with the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office.”
The indictment also details Raval bribing former Georgia Department of Revenue agent Ronald Huckaby with plane tickets in 2017 and 2018 in exchange for confidential information about Raval’s business competitors.
“I can tell you that the more we investigate this, the more public officials we find who could be involved,” said Cooke.
Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office did not want to comment on Mashburn’s indictment.
The indictment accuses 58 businesses around Georgia of running illegal gaming machines, collecting more than $3 million in sales tax but never paying it to the state.
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