by T.A. DeFeo
A 72-year-old Alpharetta businessman pleaded guilty in federal court to bribing two Atlanta city officials in exchange for steering millions of dollars of city business to his company.
Lohrasb “Jeff” Jafari, the PRAD Group’s former executive vice president, also pleaded guilty to bribing a former Dekalb County official to try and secure county contracts and evading more than $1.5 million in taxes, federal prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Steve C. Jones is scheduled to sentence Jafari on July 19 after the businessman pleaded guilty to conspiratorial bribery, substantive bribery and tax evasion.
Georgia’s March unemployment rate remains steady
Georgia’s March unemployment rate was 3.1 percent, unchanged from the revised February rate.
The Peach State’s unemployment rate has stood at 3.1 percent for eight consecutive months, according to a labor department news release. That is four-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate of 3.5 percent.
According to state officials, in February, Georgia reported the southeast’s highest labor force participation rate at 61.1 percent and the region’s highest employment-to-population ratio, 59.2 percent. Jobs increased 0.2 percent over the month and 2.8 percent over the year to an all-time high, state officials said.
Kemp signs bill to preserve farmland
Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 220, the “Georgia Farmland Conservation Act,” establishing a mechanism to provide grants to holders of agricultural conservation easements.
“The creation of this programming will ensure that Georgia’s number one industry is supported for many years to come,” state Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell, said in a statement. “Agriculture is vital to the economic development of our state, and this measure is a key step in a movement to enable Georgia farmers to voluntarily protect their farmland.”
Officials said that farmland in Georgia has decreased from roughly 12.6 million acres in 1974 to about 9.9 million acres today.
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T.A. DeFeo is a regular contributor to The Center Square.
Photo “Gavel and Money” by Towfiqu barbhuiya.
