Residents’ reaction to Thomson Mayor arrested after accused of giving alcohol to inmates

THOMSON, Ga. (WJBF) – The GBI arrested Thomson Mayor Benji Cranford after he was accused of giving alcohol to inmates. He is now charged with Furnishing Prohibited Items to Inmates and Criminal Attempt to Commit a Felony.

Back on June 6th, the Thomson Police Department asked the GBI to conduct an investigation into Cranford. He had been accused of giving alcohol to inmates on a work detail within the city limits two days earlier.  A grand jury indicted the mayor today.

Jason Smith, the city and county spokesman, said, “As we understand the charges in this case are not related to Mr. Cranford’s duties as an elected official, we do not have a comment.”

People we spoke with in Thomson were shocked to hear about the arrest, especially in their small town.

“You hear certain different stories, but hearing this kind of just blew my mind, like it’s wild. And I just feel like it’s a shocker, you know what I mean. The world every day you hear about this stuff, and you don’t know it would happen in your town, but here it is,” said Amelia Kennedy, a Thomson resident.

One woman said she never would have seen this coming.

“I wouldn’t expect that out of him. You know, I’ve seen him in some city meetings before, and that’s not the person that I saw that would have been doing something like that. So, I just hope it’s not true,” said Velvet Lazenby, a Thomson resident.

We will continue to follow this story– and as the GBI releases more information, we will keep you updated.

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