Fairburn City Councilman Glenn Higgins resigned from the City Council this

week after pleading guilty to bank fraud. According to documents from the

U.S. Attorney's Office, Higgins took $50,000 from his funeral home customers

between August 1999 and April 2002. The documents indicate that Higgins cashed

certificates of deposit to pay for future burial expenses by forging signatures

and then used the money then for personal expenses. Higgins has since paid

back the money by refinancing his house said his attorney, Nicholas Lotito.

Approximately $209,537 was converted by Higgins at The First Community Bank

in Fairburn and put into his own account.

Higgins has served on the Fairburn City Council since 1988 and has no previous

criminal record.

"When you run a small business, you do what you can to keep it afloat.

It just got out of hand," Higgins said.

Higgins and Sons Funeral Home in Fairburn was sold in 2002 to a national

company. Since then, Higgins has been semi-retired, helping his son who runs

the Higgins Hillcrest Chapel Funeral Home in Newnan.

Sentencing will probably be in October, Lotito said. A special election

to fill Higgins spot on the city council will be held in September. Lotito

said that Higgins should not be made out to look like a criminal.

"He has given Fairburn 18 years of city service," Lotito said.