Bishop Eddie Long Burglary: District Attorney Drops Charges
The DeKalb County District Attorney in Georgia has agreed to drop burglary charges against a former security guard who was accused of breaking into Bishop Eddie Long’s office and stealing $100,000 in property.
Anthony Boyd had been scheduled to stand trial on the incident that occurred in June 2010 at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church located in Lithonia; however, the Georgia minister was reluctant to testify.
District Attorney Robert James said Monday that Long’s hesitance to testify against Boyd and Boyd's lack of a "bad criminal history" were among the reasons for dismissing the charges.
"We decided to cut our losses," James said.
Boyd, 20, told The Atlantic Journal-Constitution (AJC) that Bishop Long told him last week that he didn't "have anything to worry about."
Long had written a letter to James in August requesting that the charges against Boyd be dropped.
"While I understand that there may be evidence to support a prosecution, I believe in forgiveness and the opportunity for second chances," Long wrote, according to WSB-TV.
Boyd and another suspect, Maurice Robinson, were arrested for the break-in at New Birth.
Both suspects had been offered a pre-trial diversion program in return for having the charges dismissed; however only Robinson, who had alleged sexual misconduct against Long, accepted the deal.
According to the AJC, Boyd refused to accept the program because he believed doing so would be an admission of guilt.
"I had nothing to do with it," said Boyd. "This has been over a year of my life worrying about what was going to happen."
Boyd was seen as a "party to a crime" and not one of the ringleaders, according to James. "We were never chomping at the bit to prosecute," the district attorney stated.
Boyd had been accused of misusing his position as a security guard at the church, allowing Robinson to gain entry into Long's office. No evidence was presented to support allegations that Boyd participated in the actual theft, the ACJ reports.
