The trial of former Warner Robins city councilman John Williams
began Monday.
He faces charges of extortion, lying to an FBI agent and tampering with a witness.
Those charges involve Williams allegedly profiting from the purchase of a city vehicle.
13WMAZ'S Lorra Lynch Jones will be covering the case throughout the week.
Here's a recap of Day one.
John Williams arrived at the federal court house about 8:30 a.m. Monday with his wife, Elna. She said she was holding-up, "great", and that she and her husband had a date night Sunday evening, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate.
The judge called the court to order at 9 a.m. for jury selection. That would last until about 4 p.m., when the trial finally started.
Jury selection took an unusually long time, because many of the jurors indicated that they either knew John Williams or were familiar with the case. The judge and the attorney's interviewed about 40 of them behind closed doors to screen them for possible bias.
Late in the afternoon, the attorney's chose 7 women and 7 men for the jury. Two are alternates.
John Williams sat in the courtroom and listened to opening statements from the federal prosecutor, Paul McCommon, and his defense attorney, Tina Hunt.
The government alleges that Williams made $1,720 from the purchase of a pickup truck for the police department last September. McCommon called it a "kick-back".
McCommon says the FBI found out about the case through their informant, Nahir Jabar, who goes by the name of "Camel".
He said Camel has provided information to FBI in exchange for a visa, that allows him to stay in the country, since 2002. Camel is from the country of Jordan.
Camel was involved in this deal, because he had ties to the auto dealership, Signature Auto, that sold the truck.
McCommon said much of the evidence will be from recorded audio and video conversations between John Williams and Camel, and that one video shows allegedly shows Williams accepting the $1,720 payment for the truck, and putting the money in his shirt pocket.
McCommon told the jury, "Watch what happens when the money changes hands."
The defense countered those statements by saying that Camel's visa was about to expire. So, he needed fresh information for the FBI.
Defense attorney Tina Hunt claims Camel coerced Williams into taking the money. She says Williams did accept it, but not in his official capacity as a councilmember. She said that's probably "unethical", but not criminal, and she will prove that during the trial.
Hunt told the jury, "All things are open to interpretation."
Warner Robins Police Chief Brett Evans was the first witness called to the stand. He said he cooperated with the FBI investigation, by proceeding with the purchase of truck at the FBI's request.
The prosecution will have their turn to question Evans when the trial resumes at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday.
Warner Robins Mayor Chuck Shaheen and at least two other city employees are expected to take the stand this week.
The judge, Marc Treadwell, estimated the trial will last three or four days.