Former lawmaker pleads guilty

A former Georgia lawmaker has pleaded guilty to secretly obtaining a $250,000 loan using as collateral property that belonged to the church he led. State Rep. Ron Sailor already pleaded guilty in March to laundering $375,000 in drug money for an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer. Sailor is a Democrat who represented parts of DeKalb and Rockdale Counties. He was fired by the Greater New Light Missionary Baptist Church after church members discovered the secret mortgage.

Church fires disgraced lawmaker

A former state lawmaker who pleaded guilty to federal money laundering charges has been fired by his Atlanta church. Representative Ron Sailor secretly took out a $250,000 mortgage on the property of the Greater New Light Missionary Baptist Church. The 33-year-old Democrat who represented parts of DeKalb and Rockdale counties resigned his seat earlier this month.

Report: Former legislator took secret mortgage

A report out today says former legislator Ron Sailor Junior secretly took out a quarter-million dollar mortgage on the church where he was pastor just days before pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges. Leaders at Greater New Light Missionary Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta say they didn't know Sailor had done it and now don't know where the money is. Sailor resigned from the Legislature after pleading guilty March 18th in federal court in Atlanta.

Lobbyist's ties to Sailor under scrutiny

The state's Ethics Commission is looking into possible violations by a lobbyist, whose company allegedly lent state Representative Ron Sailor eighty thousand dollars last year. The loan wasn't disclosed until Monday night. Sailor, a Democrat from Decatur, accepted the loan in February of 2007 from a payday lending company owned by lobbyist Willie Green. The loan should have been reported the following month.

Rick Thompson, Executive Secretary for Georgia's Ethics Commission, says it wasn't: “An amended disclosure report by the lobbyist that was identified in the newspaper article has been submitted last night to identify a loan. So we'll look into it a little further, and see why it wasn't reported timely.”

Green's lawyer says the lobbyist did not realize that loans to public officials had to be disclosed until after reporters contacted him on Monday. Last year, Green was pushing for the passage of a payday lending bill that ultimately failed, and Sailor was one of a handful of Democrats who supported it. Sailor pleaded guilty in federal court last week to money laundering.

(Odette Yousef, WABE Atlanta)

State Rep. resigns after laundering money.

State Representative Ron Sailor resigned today after pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges. His colleagues were shocked.

Sailor is a Democrat from Decatur. He hasn't been at the captiol much this year and missed over 200 votes. Today his collaegues found out why. Sailor was arrested in December in an FBI undercover sting. He laundered apparent drug money twice for a fee. House Minority Leader DuBose Porter called the events unfortunate.

"Everyone is responsible for their own actions," he said. "It's sad, but there's so many good people in this body. It's sad that this reflects this way."

State officials will set a date soon for a special election to fill the open seat. Meanwhile, the 33-year old Sailor, who has been cooperating with the FBI, faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.