Sheriff says ‘long wait,’ miscommunication hurt Columbus finance investigation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Delayed prosecutor assignment in finance case hindered sheriff's office, sheriff says.
- Simple battery charges against Yvonne Ivey dismissed due to statute of limitations.
- Communication lapses between sheriff and prosecutors slowed investigation.
Investigators at the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office say they faced delays in trying to bring charges against people involved in the Columbus Consolidated Government finance case, a criminal investigation that brought charges against two city employees.
Sheriff Greg Countryman’s office launched the investigation on Jan. 2, 2024, after being asked by Mayor Skip Henderson and then-City Manager Isaiah Hugley. More than a year later, in May, city Finance Director Angelica Alexander and former city Revenue Manager Yvonne Ivey were charged as a result of that investigation.
But Yvonne Ivey’s two charges of simple battery quickly were dismissed due to the two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanors. The sheriff’s office identified potential charges for four other Columbus government employees, but they weren’t charged, according to an administrative report from the investigation accessed through Georgia open records law. With only Alexander facing charges for allegedly obstructing law enforcement, Countryman blamed miscommunication and delays in getting a prosecutor on the case.
“This has been the worst experience that I’ve experienced in my 35 years,” Countryman said in an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer. “It’s not throwing mud on anyone. It’s the reality. We could not communicate with anyone.”
In an interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Lt. Jeremy Hattaway, an investigator for MCSO, said the documents for the investigation were forwarded to the district attorney’s office within about nine months of the investigation starting.
But Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly recused himself from the case in July 2024. Hattaway said losing the prosecuting authority caused the sheriff’s office to lose the ability to file subpoenas.
Towaliga deputy chief assistant DA Wayne Jernigan was later assigned as a special prosecutor in the case.
“Once we were able to get the prosecutors assigned, then that took a little while to bring them up to speed,” Hattaway said.
Countryman said the sheriff’s office dealt with “a long wait” getting an assigned prosecutor. He said it took months for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia to assign the case to a district attorney’s office.
Countryman also said there were communication issues between the sheriff’s office and the new prosecutors.
Countryman said they were able to contact Jernigan, but he also said, “In the course of this investigation, even when there were questions, it was not like you could freely pick up the phone and you know, reach out and call the District Attorney because he had cases he was working on.”
Countryman said he understands prosecutors have big caseloads, but he said, “In this type of a case we needed a district attorney’s office that could really focus on this case.”
Countryman said his office wanted to contact Jernigan’s office because they had early concerns about the statute of limitations on some charges. Ivey’s case was quickly dismissed due to the statute of limitations.
“We had those concerns. But even once we got to the point where they were able to look at it, ADA Jernigan is the one that recommended charges for us to charge each individual with,” Countryman said.
The charges against Ivey that were filed – and then dismissed – were recommended by Jernigan, according to investigation documents provided to the Ledger-Enquirer through Georgia open records law. Jernigan also recommended the charge that’s still pending against Alexander.
“Those were not the charges from us, because if you look at some of the charges that we have, some of them were felonies,” Countryman said.
Countryman said the case “should have been done a long time ago.” He said the district attorney “communicated more with some media people than they did with us.”
Hattaway said MCSO’s role was just to find the evidence, and let prosecutors decide what to do with it.
“We are simply finders of fact, and we are a neutral body that goes in, we’re not looking for the prosecution or the dismissal of anyone,” he said. “We are simply here to do our job.”
Prosecutors respond
Jonathan Adams, district attorney for the Towaliga Judicial Circuit, told the Ledger-Enquirer his office was appointed to the case on Nov. 14, 2024. He said he emailed Kelly and Hattaway the following day to request their case files, which he received later.
Adams said he received a flash drive from Hattaway and conducted his own initial review before assigning the case to Jernigan on Dec. 16, 2024.
“At no time during this process have I ever received any communication from Sheriff Countryman, which is something I expected as the elected DA regarding a case of this significance,” Adams said. “However, DCADA Jernigan communicated frequently with … Hattaway throughout this process.”
“We do believe in transparent operations and responded to all media requests for communications regarding this case,” Adams said.
Adams said his office did what it had an obligation to do.
“My office followed the law and based our decisions on the evidence presented to us by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office. We are limited to only reviewing criminal conduct and made no finding regarding any civil or administratively negligent conduct,” Adams said.
Adams said the duty of his office is to “seek justice, not merely to convict.”
Jernigan also gave remarks to the Ledger-Enquirer, saying in reference to the statute of limitations, “That’s not the sheriff’s fault or ours. It’s just a misunderstanding.”
“They presented their investigation, and the only thing I can do is make authorizations for warrants on cases that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt,” Jernigan said.
Jernigan declined to comment further.
Why charges were dismissed against former Columbus employee
The statute of limitations for simple battery is two years in the state of Georgia, according to The Claiborne Firm, a Georgia law firm.
Hattaway said one simple battery charge brought against Ivey, before being dismissed, allegedly happened in 2017.
In that incident, Ivey allegedly grabbed the arm of another finance employee, which was witnessed by another staff member, according to the sheriff’s office’s administrative report.
“During the legal opinion we received, he (Jernigan) said that the statute of limitations would start at the time that law enforcement was made aware of it,” Hattaway said, which would have given time for Ivey to be prosecuted.
Hattaway said the second alleged simple battery offense Ivey was charged with stemmed from an incident on Aug. 12, 2022. In that instance, Ivey was accused of grabbing the arm of someone who wound up being a whistleblower in the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office’s administrative report.
“It would have been well within the statute of limitations had it been prosecuted during the time of the initial investigation,” Hattaway said.
Hattaway said the MCSO had testimonial evidence from the victim and witnesses as well as some documentation sent to human resources.
Maj. John Wade said the dismissal was unfortunate for the alleged victim of the incident.
“We did what we were supposed to do, you know,” Wade told the Ledger-Enquirer. “A citizen reported a crime to us. We had a duty and responsibility to investigate that crime. We did that, and when we hit certain legal issues, we reached out to the legal experts, and, unfortunately, they didn’t get back to us in time where we could have took appropriate action.”
Mark Post, Ivey’s attorney, declined to comment on Ivey’s behalf.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 8:52 AM.