ATL Standard

Former Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary has been sentenced to nearly five years behind bars for using his elected office to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief funds allocated to the city during the pandemic.

In a recent release from the Department of Justice,  Keri Farley, special agent in charge of FBI Atlanta, said it is extremely disheartening when an elected official sworn to protect their community violates that oath by stealing relief funds intended to aid their community.

"Lary betrayed the trust placed in him by the citizens of Stonecrest by stealing the very funds meant to help his constituents whether the COVID-19 pandemic,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan added in the release. “The people of Stonecrest deserved better, and corrupt officials can expect severe consequences for using their offices to commit crimes.”

According to the release, Lary used three different methods to steal funds, including in January 2021 when he and convicted coconspirator Lania Boone raided relief funds that were dispersed by Municipal Resource Partners Corporation, Inc. (“MRPC”), a private company the two coaxed the city into a contract with and controlled behind the scenes.

Lary also faces a restitution fee of $119,607.69 after pleading guilty to wire fraud, federal program theft and conspiracy earlier this year. With a guilty plea of her own, Boone is slated to be scheduled to be sentenced on August 15 in a case that was overseen and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In court documents, authorities outlined that Lary and Boone used the stolen funds to cover an array of personal expenses, including the mortgage on a lakefront home owned by Lary and to pay off as much as $7,600 in college tuition and rent for Boone’s son, the release states.