Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor Under GBI Investigation

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA — The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is currently looking into Gwinnett County Sheriff Keybo Taylor for a possible extortion attempt.

In a statement to Patch, a GBI spokesperson said that the Office of the Attorney General requested the investigation on Sept. 14, 2020.

"The investigation is active and ongoing," the spokesperson said.

The sheriff is also facing multiple lawsuits that claim he shut down bail bond companies in the county because the owners would not contribute to his election campaign.

Taylor, a Democrat, made history this past November by becoming Gwinnett County's first Black sheriff. A 2019 surveillance video recorded during his election campaign, however, is now at the heart of the GBI investigation.

“If folks don’t support me, I’m not going to let them bond here,” Taylor can be heard saying in the surveillance footage obtained by Patch. "I mean, I'm just not going to do it."

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court by Scott G. Hall, the owner of Anytime Bail Bonding, Taylor walked into his Lawrenceville business unannounced on April 8, 2019 to talk to an employee there. Surveillance cameras recorded the sheriff's conversation with the worker.

Hall alleges the video proves that Taylor has a "pay to play" criteria for bonding companies in Gwinnett County.

On Jan.1, 2021, the first day of Taylor’s tenure as sheriff, Hall said the sheriff issued a letter to Anytime Bail Bonding indicating that “pending an investigation, effective immediately” his “Certificate of Authority to act as a surety and write bonds in Gwinnett County was suspended… until further notice.” Two weeks later, Hall said his company's ability to post new bonds in Gwinnett County was revoked.

"As promised, Defendant Sheriff Taylor has retaliated against Plaintiff Hall for not financially supporting his campaign for Sheriff," the lawsuit, in part, reads.

Taylor told FOX 5, however, that he did not ask for a campaign donation in order for Anytime Bail Bonding to stay in business.

"I could see what would be problematic if I was in there asking them, hey, give me money or I don’t let you write bonds here," Taylor told the station's investigative team.

Taylor also told the AJC that Hall prompted the GBI investigation “by sending misleading and tampered evidence to the GBI in order to support my opponent, Lou Solis, during the general election.”

Taylor went on to call the investigation a political stunt aimed at tarnishing his character and damaging his commitment to criminal justice and bail bond reform.

In a recent interview with WSB-TV, Taylor said he has reduced the number of bondsmen working in Gwinnett County from 10 to four, and claims he did not target Anytime Bail Bonding.

“They did not file their paperwork on time,” the sheriff told the TV station.

In addition to the federal lawsuit, Anytime Bail Bonding, A-Action and The Bondsman have filed state lawsuits against the sheriff.