A former Liberty County law enforcement officer, who was charged in 2005 with the theft of county road equipment, has finally had his day in court.
Long County resident Weyman Chapman, a former lieutenant with the Liberty County Sheriff's Department, reportedly accepted a plea in a McIntosh courtroom Aug. 27.
According to Long County Sheriff Cecil Nobles, Chapman was sentenced to 20 years, seven years behind bars and 13 on probation. He was reportedly allowed extra time to turn himself in and begin serving his sentence. More details about that arrangement were unavailable.
Chapman’s path to justice took several twists and turns.

In 2005, he was charged in Liberty County with one count of theft by taking for an incident dating back to August of that year, according to public records at the Liberty County Clerk of County Courts office. 
At the time, it was reported a bulldozer, missing from the county road department maintenance yard since 2002, and an excavator, taken from Colonel's Island in 2005, were found at Chapman's Long County home.
Liberty County Sheriff Don Martin immediately terminated Chapman and the case was turned over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.
Until this month, little information about the case had been disclosed.
Chapman's trial began in Liberty County and was moved to McIntosh at the request of Nobles, who declined to comment further on the reason.
On Aug. 27, the case files were released to Atlanta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Durden who said Judge Robert Russell presided over the case. However, all parties involved reached a settlement.
In addition to the theft charges in Liberty County, Nobles said there were also three charges against Chapman in Long County, and possibly more than one charge in Liberty County, stemming from similar incidents uncovered by the GBI during its investigation.
Watch for more details in an upcoming edition.