On May 18, 2015, the Meriwether County Grand Jury returned an indictment against former state Senate candidate Brian Roslund for one count of Racketeering (O.C.G.A. § 16‑14‑4(b)) and 27 counts of Theft by Taking (O.C.G.A. § 16-8-2). Roslund is accused of embezzling funds from the Friends of Roosevelt’s Little White House, an officially recognized support group of the Parks, Recreation, and Historic Sites Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, to underwrite his state Senate campaign.

In March 2014, Roslund qualified to run as a candidate for Georgia State Senate District 29 and registered a committee as the “Friends of Brian Roslund” with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission (Commission). At the time he qualified to run, Roslund was the president of Friends of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He was also a fiduciary of the organization and a signatory on its bank account.

Roslund is accused of stealing over $11,000 from the Friends of Roosevelt’s Little White House by withdrawing cash 27 times from the organization’s bank account through the use of “counter checks” he obtained at the bank. He allegedly used this money to pay for campaign-related expenses, including a rented residence in Senate District 29. He is also accused of writing approximately $15,000 in checks for campaign-related goods and services on bank accounts that either contained little to no money or had been closed before the checks were written.

According to the indictment, Roslund filed false campaign disclosure reports with the Commission stating that the campaign had received over $52,000 in campaign contributions, had expended thousands of dollars on campaign expenditures, and had thousands of dollars “cash on hand” during the heart of the 2014 general election campaign season. In order to support these claims, the defendant is accused of inflating campaign donation amounts and falsifying donors.

Racketeering is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Theft by Taking is punishable by up to 15 years in prison on each count.

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant Attorney General David McLaughlin. The case was investigated by Georgia Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Robert Devane.