Defendant: “I got set up”

A GreenvilleCounty inmate pleaded guilty today in Oconee to criminal charges related to car theft in Rabun County, Georgia.  George Cleveland III is serving a six-year term in Greenville for charges similar to the charges that brought him today to an OconeeCounty courtroom.  Cleveland today pleaded guilty to receiving or selling vehicle with falsified vehicle identification number and the possession, concealment or disposal of a stolen vehicle.  Judge Roger Couch factored in Cleveland’s current sentence in GreenvilleCounty.  Couch sentenced Cleveland to five years in prison, suspended to time served, five years probation, and restitution in the amount of $5 thousand, 850 dollars.  The restitution is payable to Duvall Motors of Clayton.  But Jeff Duvall told the judge that it’s more important to him to know how the cars were stolen from his dealership.  Cleveland professed he was innocent of the car thefts, saying, “I got set up.  I just can’t prove it.”