A former Stonecrest mayor who went to prison for stealing COVID-19 relief money now faces state charges for lying about his criminal record to register to vote and run for city council.
What’s Happening: A DeKalb County grand jury indicted 63-year-old Jason Wallace Lary on Tuesday on four charges, including false registration and making false statements about his candidacy.
- Lary signed documents in August claiming he was not a convicted felon when he registered to vote and filed to run for Stonecrest City Council District 5.
- He was released from federal prison in February and remains under three years of supervised release for his 2022 conviction.
What’s Important: Lary went to federal prison in 2022 after pleading guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief funds meant for Stonecrest while he served as mayor. He spent nearly three years behind bars.
Between the Lines: Two citizens challenged Lary’s candidacy, prompting the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections to investigate. The board voted unanimously in September to disqualify him as a candidate and remove him from voter rolls…