On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced the man charged with committing a host of financial wrongdoings in the region to serve time in prison followed by a period of supervised release.
Carroll Belton “Tray” Baird III was indicted by a federal grand jury in December 2024 on a number of charges connected to his bankruptcy case in the Southern District of Georgia. Prosecutors contended that Baird embezzled money from the bankruptcy estate, concealed assets, and made false declarations. The charges meant Baird was facing up to 30 years in federal prison, if convicted. At the time of the federal indictment, Baird was facing felony charges in Bulloch and Toombs counties for financial fraud-related incidents as well. In those cases, he was charged with stealing vehicle down payments from local car dealerships.
Baird has since pleaded guilty in Bulloch County. Following the conclusion of that case, he negotiated a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, agreeing to plead guilty to one charge and waive certain rights in exchange for prosecution on the lesser charge. Read the full timeline here.
In May of 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office filed an Information Indictment against Baird for one count of False Document, alleging that on December 16, 2019, Baird willingly and knowingly made and used a false writing document, knowing the document contained ‘a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement’ to the executive branch of the U.S. Government. Specifically, prosecutors contend that Baird moved assets into his wife’s name instead of forfeiting the assets to the bankruptcy trustee.
Baird submitted a “Monthly Operating Report for July 2019 in relation to a case under Title 11, to wit In re: Belle Creole, LLC, Southern District of Georgia Bankruptcy Case No. 19-60076, that falsely stated all monies received by Belle Creole, LLC were deposited into the debtor-in-possession accounts and no assets were transferred to anyone related to the debtor-in-possession, well knowing and believing that he failed to deposit certain monies into the debtor-in-possession account and that some assets were transferred to his spouse.”
Two months after the Information Indictment was filed by prosecutors, Baird signed a Waiver of Indictment, meaning he waived his rights in open court for the opportunity to proceed under an Information Indictment instead. Represented by his attorney, Troy Marsh, he then entered a guilty plea.
“Defendant agrees that he is, in fact, guilty of this offense,” the plea agreement reads as it details the actions taken back in 2019.
On Tuesday, following a pre-sentence investigation by the court, Baird appeared at the federal courthouse in Statesboro for sentencing. No one was present to speak on his behalf. Judge Randal Hall, U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, sentenced Baird to serve 30 months in prison followed by 24 months of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system. Baird was also ordered to pay $477,000 in restitution.
