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Corruption trial of DeKalb couple continues Monday

The trial of a divorced DeKalb County couple continues today, a corruption case that has marred the construction of at least two DeKalb County schools.

WSB's Pete Combs reports the central question here is whether Pat Reid and her former husband, Tony Pope, intentionally broke their promise to avoid all appearances of a conflict of interest.
 
Hot-shot architect Tony Pope promised, when his wife Pat Reid, took over the job of supervising DeKalb School construction projects, he would refrain from taking any new business from her. Prosecutors say he broke that promise and subsequently bilked the county out of more than $1 million.
 
Last week, former School Board Chairwoman Lynn Cherry Grant testified, when she found out that Pope was involved in a school project in apparent violation of that agreement, she told then school superintendent Crawford Lewis, "You need to fire (Reid's) ass."
 
But attorneys for Pope and Reid say there was never a breach of contract, that the former couple was acting in the best interest of the school system.
 
If the jury doesn't believe them, the former husband-and-wife team could get 65 years in prison.

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