11th Circuit Panel Kills Ex-DA's Sentence in Ethics Case

A federal appeals court has thrown out the 18-month prison sentence for a former Georgia district attorney for lying to federal agents about an improper sexual relationship with a drug suspect.

A panel of the 11th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday vacated the sentence of Robert B. Ellis Jr., former district attorney of the Alapaha Judicial Circuit.

Ellis was sentenced last year by U.S. District Court Judge Hugh Lawson after pleading guilty to lying when FBI agents asked whether he had ever had sex with a defendant in his district. Ellis said he had not, but Jody Manning, a drug defendant and informant for Ellis, told federal agents he had forced her into a sexual relationship.

Ellis later said he and the woman had engaged in a consensual affair.

Details here from the Fulton County Daily Report via Law.com.