Cobb Superior Court Judge Adele Grubbs sentenced Corey to serve one year in the Cobb County Jail, followed by 14 years on probation. She also ordered Corey to pay $121,000 in restitution to the city.
Corey, 46, of Powder Springs, had worked for the city of Smyrna for 14 years before he was fired on Feb. 4, 2009. His annual salary at the time he was fired was more than $82,000.
He was indicted by the grand jury last October on 16 charges, including theft by taking, making false statements, and multiple counts of unauthorized use of a credit card.
"The accused used purchasing cards issued to him by the City of Smyrna to make unauthorized purchases in the approximate amount of $120,841.17," according to the indictment.
The indictment accused Corey of using the city's American Express and Visa cards as far back as Oct. 1, 2004, for purchases at places like Kroger, Publix, Walgreens, Trader Joe's, Copelands, and Target, among others. The first charge of the indictment states Corey used the city's American Express card for "a monthly fitness program with Step It Up Fitness for his wife and himself and other transactions."
The false-statements charge stems from Corey signing activity logs for the city regarding the charges, "knowing some of the purchases were not authorized by the city," the indictment states. "The accused failed to supply the receipts on some occasions to conceal the items being purchased."
City spokesman Jennifer Bennett issued a statement on behalf of the city Monday afternoon.
"Our interest and duty in the process, on behalf of taxpayers, has been full restitution. We have full confidence in the legal process, and are in agreement with seeking full restitution," she said.
He was arrested on the charges in June 2009, and quickly posted $75,000 bond.
After his firing by Smyrna, Corey was hired as a deputy director in Rockdale County's human resources department. Officials there said they were aware he had been fired by Smyrna, but were not aware of the extent of the allegations against him. Rockdale also fired Corey after his 2009 arrest.
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Same deal!
How much longer will the people of Smyrna allow themselves to be had?
It is also called "management." Why isn't there someone overseeing reviewing the charges and comparing them to receipts?
Why were you not complete in your sentencing to have Mr. Corey forfeit his retirement? Let me guess, it's because you are a civil servant too?!