Georgia prosecutor indicted on bribery, misconduct charges

A district attorney in Georgia on Tuesday was indicted on charges of bribery and misconduct that occurred while in office.

Chattahoochee Circuit District Attorney Mark Jones was indicted by a grand jury on nine charges, including bribery, influencing witnesses and violation of oath by a public officer, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) said in a statement.

According to the indictment, Jones is accused of asking a police officer to provide false testimony in July regarding the case of Elijah Farral.

Farral was charged in February with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct over the death of 18-year-old Sara Holtrop, a local ABC affiliate reported at the time.

The indictment states that Jones told a police officer to testify that Holtrop was “cheating” on Farral, which would provide evidence of a motive so that he could be charged with murder.

Jones also faces bribery charges for offering two different assistant district attorneys $1,000 in March. He is accused of offering one prosecutor the money to get a murder conviction and asking a separate prosecutor to say that a murder case was ready for trial when it was not.

Jones is further accused of trying to prevent the testimony of a crime victim and not assisting the victim with the complexities of the criminal justice system.

In all, Jones was charged with two counts of violation of oath by a public officer, two counts of attempted violation of oath by a public officer, two counts of bribery, two counts of influencing witnesses and one count of attempted subornation of perjury.

The most serious charges against him, the bribery charges, carry up to 20 years in prison. 

According to the Ledger-Enquirer, Jones will no longer serve in his position if he is ultimately convicted.

The Hill has reached out to Jones for comment.