The blankets went up before the cameras could get a clean look at him. Major Robbie Silas — 59 years old, a command officer with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office in Augusta, Georgia — was escorted out of the Wilkes County jail Tuesday morning and into a waiting patrol vehicle while jail staff held blankets around his face. The night before, Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents had arrested him on three charges, including violation of oath by a public officer. By the end of that same day, the sheriff whose jail did the shielding had issued a public apology.
The arrest
GBI agents took Silas into custody Monday night, Aug. 31, and served a search warrant at his home in Hephzibah. Because the accused man holds command inside the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, the case went to the state — and so did the jail. Sheriff Eugene Brantley asked Wilkes County to house Silas overnight, and the booking record there lists all three counts.
Then came the images that turned a standard arrest into a second story of its own: jail personnel raising blankets to block news cameras during Tuesday’s transport handoff. Wilkes County Sheriff Darrell Powers said afterward that he “did not direct, authorize, or approve that action,” that “the badge must never be used as a shield from public accountability,” and that it is not policy “to provide special treatment to a person simply because he or she wears a badge.” Powers also announced a new jail policy: his facility will not intentionally conceal an adult detainee’s face without a court order or a documented safety concern.
The charges
The booking record lists three counts: pandering, solicitation for sodomy, and violation of oath by a public officer. The third is the statute written for officials themselves — it targets a public officer who betrays the oath of the office.
According to The Augusta Press, the case centers on a man who rents a house from Silas — his own tenant, who has not been publicly named.
Silas is not a rank-and-file deputy. As a major, he oversaw the Special Operations Division, including the bomb squad and specialized tactical teams. And earlier in his career he ran for the office at the top: sheriff of Richmond County, a race Richard Roundtree won in 2012.
What happens next
Silas made a first appearance in court on Tuesday. Bond information has not been released, and the case now moves through the prosecutor’s office. His own department has not announced his employment status — Capt. Danny Whitehead told reporters the office was “not prepared to release any information” ahead of a formal statement.
The arrest also landed in a department already under strain. The day before, Investigator Sean Morrow and Deputy Jose Ferrer were booked into the county’s own detention center on charges of misusing license plate readers and violating their oaths — prosecutors say the two knowingly searched plates for personal reasons, tied to no investigation — and were fired the same day. In 2023, NBC counted 33 Richmond County sheriff’s employees arrested over a three-year span. This week added more names to that count.
Every charge against Silas is an allegation, and he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty — the same standard his badge was supposed to represent. This post will be updated as the case develops: bond outcome, the sheriff’s formal statement, and any employment action.
When blankets hide a major’s face from the news cameras, which one is being protected — his privacy, or the department’s?
UPDATE, Sept 4: Sheriff Brantley has fired Silas following the arrest. WRDW reports he bonded out of the Wilkes County Jail within roughly 12 hours — one of the fastest bond turnarounds in the county’s recent calendar.
Sources
WRDW News 12 · The Augusta Press · Wilkes County Sheriff Darrell Powers statement · Richmond County Sheriff’s Office · Charles B. Webster Detention Center inmate inquiry · NBC (2023 reporting)
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