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Atlanta Journal Atlanta Former Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett wants $10 million from MetLife as a reward for shooting herself in the foot and killing her own career in law enforcement. Somehow it's no surprise, then, that her lawsuit against MetLife doesn't include as co-plaintiffs the citizens of Fulton County, who suffered as well when Barrett lost their money in 2003 to a con man who worked for the insurance company. For reasons that were never clear, Barrett took $7.2 million of public and private money entrusted to her care, and invested it with Byron Rainner, who was employed by MetLife. The bulk of the money went into a MetLife annuity; the remainder to a Florida company that made high-risk loans, and was quickly lost. Both of Barrett's investments were illegal, according to Fulton County's auditor. Gov. Sonny Perdue suspended Barrett as a result of the scandal; she did not run for re-election in 2004. Eventually, MetLife returned to Fulton County all but $500,000 of the money Barrett had invested, and Rainner pleaded guilty to defrauding the county sheriff's office. Now Barrett is blaming MetLife for the mess she created. There's no doubt she was conned, and it's clear that Rainner was a loose cannon waiting to go off. In fact, MetLife admitted as much by paying a $250,000 fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission to settle a complaint that it failed to properly supervise him. Even so, Barrett is not without fault. She risked money that was in her care because she apparently expended little or no effort in investigating Rainner or the investments he was pushing. Now, in addition to collecting a county pension of more than $5,700 a month, she wants another $10 million as a prize for being guilty of bad judgment. Now that's a crime. • David McNaughton, for the editorial board
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