Dale Cardwell: Story Highlights

July 2000: DeKalb Sheriff Sid Dorsey's illegal misuse of county deputies.

Investigative journalist Dale Cardwell catches Sheriff Dorsey using on-duty county deputies staffing bank security jobs on behalf of the sheriff's private security company. The investigation leads to the exposure of multiple illegal acts by the sheriff, and the exposures are key to Dorsey's conviction on corruption charges.

March 2001: Derwin Brown Murder Investigation.

Dale Cardwell lands key interview with figure in the Derwin Brown murder investigation. The woman, who has refused to cooperate with authorities, tells Dale Cardwell that the shoot-out at Derwin Brown murder suspect Patrick Cuffy's home, was actually the result of a drug deal gone bad. Cardwell's exposure of Cuffy's drug dealing provides authorities the necessary leverage to jail Cuffy and create the pressure that eventually leads to Cuffy's cooperation with authorities. Cuffy admits that he carried out the murder of Derwin Brown on orders from his boss, Sheriff Sid Dorsey.

September 2000: Bill Campbell Investigation.

Dale Cardwell, in partnership with Channel Two investigative colleague Mark Winne, exposes the federal investigation into the gambling activities of Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell. Cardwell and Winne's stories keep the public informed as the investigation widens and eventually leads to the prosecution of more than a dozen top city officials and culminates in the former mayor's prosecution in 2006.

April 2003: Oxendine Car Investigation.

Dale Cardwell exposes the fact that during a severe state budget crisis, Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has used state funds to purchase and luxuriously appoint a Crown Victoria automobile, after the state's Department of Administrative Services has specifically instructed him not to do so. The story is just one of an unending line of such exposures which show waste in Government and hold elected and appointed leaders accountable.

January 2004: Governor Aircraft Investigation.

Dale Cardwell exposes the unauthorized personal use of state aircraft by Governor Sonny Perdue. Cardwell's investigation documents Perdue's decision to bypass Atlanta in the state helicopter because his son is running late to a high school football game. Dale's story and subsequent exposures of misuse lead Georgia's Attorney General to issue an order prohibiting the Governor and future Governors from using state vehicles for non-state business.

March 2004: Sheriff's Illegal Investments Investigation.

Dale Cardwell exposes Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett's illegal investment of seven million public dollars. The investigation exposes Barrett's receipt of tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions from the private investors who received portions of the seven million dollars. In May, Barrett's Chief Deputy Caudell Jones pled guilty to his hand in the illegal scheme. Jones is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney and the investigation is continuing.

February 2005: Politicians' Flood Buyout Investigation.

Dale Cardwell exposes how dozens of DeKalb County homeowners who qualified for federal flood plane buyouts were "leapfrogged" by the buyout of a local politician's home. The public paid more than 300-hundred thousand dollars for the politician's home, though his "buyout" score was substantially lower than dozens of deserving families whose homes are in a perpetual flood plane. The County administration never explains its reasons.

March 2005: Fulton County Courthouse Shooting Investigation.

Dale Cardwell exposes the inexcusable security lapse that led to Fulton County courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols' escape. Cardwell obtains copies of notes found in Nichols' cell, which show Nichols had been planning an escape for some time. Additionally, Cardwell, with the help of Fulton County Deputies, expose the fact Nichols had been caught with "shanks" in his shoes two days before his escape, and e-mails sent from Nichols' mother, warning Fulton Sheriff's officials of the likelihood of her son's violent reaction to a guilty verdict. Even so, security measures weren't followed that would have most likely averted the greatest tragedy in Fulton County courthouse history.

February 2006: Illegal Investment of Public Money.

Dale Cardwell exposes the 600-thousand dollar breach of public trust by the man who would become the Fulton County Sheriff's Chief of Staff. Cardwell learns from sources that in 1999, John Crosland and his company had been awarded a 600-thousand dollar grant from Georgia's Department of Human Services, to move mothers from welfare to work. The State's Attorney General determines the money had been squandered by Crosland and his company, and that almost none of the money had been spent on its intended purpose. Cardwell learns the Sheriff employs Crosland as his Chief of Staff, even though the Sheriff knew of this breach of public trust. After Cardwell's exposure, Crosland is ordered by the state to repay the money.

July 2005: Zell Miller Mansion Funds Investigation.

Dale Cardwell exposes the misuse of state tax dollars by former Governor Zell Miller. The money had been provided by Georgia citizens for the purpose of operating the Governor's mansion. Cardwell learns that Miller had been "bankrolling" the public's money by having private companies and special interest groups pay for functions and entertainment at the mansion.

Miller left office without the public knowing he'd pocketed more than 112-thousand "mansion" dollars. He paid it back after Dale exposed it.

September 2006: Dentist Bart Corbin Murder Investigation.

Dale Cardwell travels to Alabama and confronts the best friend of Gwinnett County Dentist and murder suspect Bart Corbin. Cardwell travels to Troy, Alabama and shines the light on the key witness who supplied the gun that killed Corbin's wife Jennifer. According to Jennifer Corbin's family, Dale's confrontation with Richard Wilson in Wilson's home town, along with a well timed visit from Gwinnett County D.A. investigators, prompts Wilson to "come clean" to investigators. The break in the case seals a guilty plea on two murders from Bart Corbin and saves Georgia taxpayers more than one million dollars in trial expenses.

May 2007: Georgia Administrators "Double-Dipping."

Dale Cardwell exposes the fact that Georgia taxpayers are shelling out nearly 400-million dollars annually to state retirees who are drawing substantial state pensions, and also returning to the state tax-payer funded work force. Specifically, Dale's investigation shows nearly one-fourth of that money is being used to pay retired school administrators to return to administration jobs, with no competition, and preventing that money from going to the places it was intended by the legislature; specifically, to bring veteran classroom teachers back to the classroom where they are needed. Dale's exposure of the abuse prompts action from the Governor, a state audit, and planned legislative action to correct the abuse.