Mayor arrested for storing alcohol in a ditch for inmates to drink

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The mayor of Thomson, Georgia was arrested for providing alcohol to inmates by putting gin in a ditch near where the inmates were working.

Mayor Benjamin “Benji” Cranford, 52, was arrested on August 14 and charged with furnishing prohibited items to inmates and criminal attempt to commit a felony, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said.

Cranford drove to Rimpy’s Store and purchased a 750-milliliter bottle of Seagram’s Extra Dry Gin. He then put the bottle in a ditch along Cobbham Road, “in the path of” prisoners’ work detail, according to the August 14 indictment.

The arrest came after the Thomson Police Department requested that GBI conduct an investigation in June following an allegation that Cranford had given alcohol to an “inmate work detail.”

The case was given to a grand jury, which issued an arrest warrant for the mayor on August 14. GBI officers put Cranford in handcuffs at the Thomson City Administration Office and booked him into the McDuffie County Jail that day.

He secured his $5,000 bond by 6pm that evening and was released, according to WRDW-TV.

He has not yet entered a plea.

Days after his arrest, Cranford told the outlet that he intends to continue serving as mayor. He also said he denied the claims made in the indictment: “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I don’t know no prisoner in Jefferson County. Didn’t know of no detail that day. That was months and months ago. I don’t even remember that day. Who remembers what they doing every day?” he told the outlet.

“As we understand the charges in this case are not related to Mr. Cranford’s duties as an elected official, we do not have a comment,” a city spokesperson told the Associated Press.

The Independent has emailed Mayor Cranford for comment.

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