Developer Mark Gary's Sentencing Delayed Again

The sentencing for Gwinnett developer Mark Gary has been delayed again until Aug 27. Gary, who pleaded guilty Oct. 1 in U.S. District Court in Atlanta to a federal bribery charge, had been scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. May 16. His sentencing had previously been continued from Jan. 3 to Feb. 28 to then to the May court date.

Gary’s sentencing is scheduled for 10 a.m. before Judge Pannell in Courtroom 2307 of the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta.

Gary, 39, a Duluth resident admitted to bribing former Gwinnett County commissioner Shirley Lasseter to obtain commission approval in 2009 of a controversial $4-million waste transfer station in which he had a personal stake. Lasseter implicated Gary in the corruption investigation.

After Lasseter voted in favor of the permit for the project, Gary gave her son John Fanning a bribe consisting of $30,000 worth of chips at an out-of-state casino. Fanning reportedly later shared the money with Lasseter. Although the Gwinnett County Commission approved it, the waste transfer station was never built.

Gary was arraigned Sept. 5 before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Justin Anand on the federal bribery charge, waived indictment, and was released on bond. He remains out on bond.

The Gary case has been continued to facilitate matters relating to Gary’s cooperation in an ongoing investigation of government corruption in Gwinnett County.

Gary faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In determining his sentence, the court will consider federal sentencing guidelines. His cooperation in the corruption investigation also will be considered.

Lasseter was not charged in the Gary case. Neither was Fanning.

Last May Lasseter pleaded guilty to accepting $36,500 in bribes during 2011 from an FBI agent posing as a South Florida real estate developer to support a proposed development in her district. She was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison without parole and began serving her sentence at a federal prison camp in Marianna, FL, on Dec. 12, 2012.