GBI investigating Judge Mack Crawford

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, at the request of the state attorney general’s office, has opened an investigation into Griffin circuit superior court Judge Mack Crawford, The Journal Reporter has confirmed.Nelly Miles, public affairs director for the GBI, confirmed Wednesday agents launched the probe March 27. It is being headed up by special agent Ryan Carmichael of the GBI’s Milledgeville office.Miles supplied a letter, dated March 26, from senior assistant attorney general David S. McLaughlin to GBI director Vernon M. Keenan requesting the formal investigation. It notes that Griffin circuit district attorney Ben Coker recused himself in the matter.The letter from McLaughlin, who will prosecute the case, reads in part:”This matter involves Judge Crawford’s alleged direction to the Pike County Clerk of Superior Court to write the judge a check in an amount exceeding $15,000 from the registry of the court and the judge’s alleged depositing of the check into his personal checking account.”Crawford, who lives in Pike County, was appointed superior court judge in 2010 by Gov. Sonny Perdue. He has won reelection twice since that time. Previously, he served 15 years in the Georgia House of Representatives.More to follow….