When Newton County Commission Chair Keith Ellis accused two commissioners of blackmail in a written statement earlier this week, he did so despite having been told months ago by the district attorney that there was no evidence of the crime.

District Attorney Layla Zon said Wednesday she told Ellis at the time she saw no evidene of blackmail or extortion, which was later confirmed by the FBI in late May, early June, when a special agent from the Atlanta office reported results of their investigation into the allegations.

Zon said a few months later the FBI contacted her office and said they had contacted Ellis to investigate if there was a solicitation of a bribe and whether commissioners had extorted him. In early June, Zon’s office was notified by the FBI that they had found no evidence of blackmail, a bribe or a recording.

Maddox and Sims both denied the accusation. Ellis said no such tape exists.

Wednesday, Ellis said that despite Zon and the FBI findings there was no evidence to support criminal charges, he still feels there was an attempt to force him to do something.

“There’s no two ways about it,” Ellis said. “The intent was to comply with the request. If that’s not blackmail, I don’t know what is.”

Ellis said that in a meeting on Jan. 7, Sims and Maddox gave him three choices to “avoid exposure” of the tape.

Those three choices spelled out in Ellis’s statement were:

1. Take a medical leave of absence, with full pay, with no opposition from commissioners.

2. Voluntarily and immediately relinquish public works completely to the county manager for the length of the term.

3. Resign, effective immediately.

Ellis brought that information to Newton County Sheriff Ezell Brown, who said he turned it over to the FBI office in Atlanta in January.

“The FBI informed that they would investigate two things: 1) whether there was any solicitation of a bribe by Ellis in connection with [Tee] Stribling (of Greenhill P3) and 2) whether the county commissioners had extorted or blackmailed him,” said Zon in a statement to The News. “The agent advised they would keep us posted on their findings. In late May/early June, the FBI confirmed with the District Attorney’s office that they found no evidence of criminal action by Ellis or the other commissioners in asking Ellis to consent to a reduction in his power or step down.”

As far as Ellis being asked to either leave office or give up power in January, two commissioners have confirmed they knew such a discussion took place.

“Levie Maddox did in fact talk to me about the three options mentioned,” District 1 Commissioner John Douglas said.

District 3 Commissioner Nancy Schulz said that in January “a lot of conflict was exaspebated by the chair,” and to relieve some of that conflict Ellis was approached.

“As I recall, Sims and Maddox felt very strongly there needed to be some changes,” Schulz said. “My recollection was they were going to offer an opportunity.”

Schulz said that many of the concerns about how Ellis was managing the county stemmed from his treatment of employees, such as former county engineer Aaron Wadley. Wadley announced his resignation on Jan. 4, stating in a January story in The News that Ellis had been “trying to discredit staff and damage my name and that of your own solid waste engineer.”

In a symbolic gesture, the board of commissioners gave Ellis a vote of “no confidence” at  special called meeting Jan. 7 with a 4-0 vote. District 4 Commissioner J.C. Henderson abstained from the vote.

Ellis said in an “Open Letter to the People of Newton County” released Tuesday that he had been excluded from knowledge of county business since he was approached by Maddox and Sims in January and told to abdaicate his authority. That, Ellis said, was why he had no knowledge of a controversial mosque that has been in the planning stages for the county for more than a year.

The terms of both Maddox and Ellis expire at year’s end.

The board’s tension comes at a crucial time for the county government, as, among other items, a proposed mosque has stirred up controversy; commissioners are in negotiations with the city over control of its two community centers and the county is dealing with the ongoing controversy over solid waste disposal.

Sandra Brands contributed to this report.