Judge Sentences Fanning, Cain to 57 Months Each for Bribery, Drug Trafficking

Two men who pleaded guilty to bribery and drug charges in connection to the bribery case of former Gwinnett County commissioner Shirley Lasseter were each sentenced to nearly five years in prison Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

Lasster's son John Fanning, 34, of Dacula, and Carl “Skip" Cain, 66, of Flowery Branch, both were sentenced to 57 months in prison without parole.

U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell Jr. followed the sentencing recommendations of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Atlanta, based on the defendants' cooperation in an ongoing investigation of corruption in Gwinnett County government. Fanning and Cain each could have received sentences of 70 to 87 months.

Lasseter, 64, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison without parole in the same court on Sept. 5 for accepting bribes.

Lasseter pleaded guilty May 31 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. Lasseter resigned from her District 1 seat on the Gwinnett County Commission that day. She represented Duluth, Suwanee and Sugar Hill on the commission.

Lasseter and Fanning allegedly also accepted $30,000 in casino gambling chips in 2009 from developer Mark Gary for her favorable vote on a proposed waste transfer station in Gwinnett. Although the commission approved the project, it was never built.

Cain acted as a “bagman” for Lasseter and Fanning, arranging the bribes and setting up meetings where the payments were made. Fanning and Cain each laundered $10,000 in purported drug money and also acted as drug couriers for what they believed was cocaine in a FBI sting operation.

Read the entire story on Duluth Patch

See also:

Shirley Lasseter Sentenced to 33 Months

Former Gwinnett Planning Commissioner Charged with Bribery

Reduced Sentences Sought for Lasseter, Son

Lasseter Requests Character Reference Letters