BRUNSWICK, Ga. – The former executive director of the Camden County Public Service Authority has pleaded guilty to tax evasion in the misappropriation of nearly $700,000 intended to cover employees' federal income taxes.
William Brunson, 52, of Kingsland, faces up to five years in federal prison as well as restitution in the case, which centered on roughly $677,000 that was withheld from employees' pay checks from 2014 to 2016 but never paid to the Internal Revenue Service, according to the Justice Department.
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Brunson, who never filed his personal tax returns during the same timeframe, also used a county credit card and other public funds on a range of personal expenses, including buying antique cars and auto parts, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia said Wednesday.
"Public employees in high places raking ill-gotten gains into their own pockets from taxpayers creates public distrust," U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine said in a statement. "William Brunson's greed destroyed a lot of goodwill, and fuels the cynicism and distrust that unfairly stains public service all too often."
Brunson was arrested and fired in May 2018 following scrutiny from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and an audit of the public agency's books, which uncovered financial irregularities.