Nashville Mayor Megan Barry pleaded guilty to a felony charge following her investigation on illegal acquisition of property worth over $10,000. Just over a month ago the mayor admitted to having an affair with her security detail. After the scandal, Barry claimed she would stay in office, but on Tuesday (March 6) she accepted her time in office has concluded. The plea came with an agreement to reimburse the city $11,000 and serve three years of unsupervised probation.

According to CBS affiliate WTVF, District Attorney Glenn Funk had some witnesses lined up who could testify to the mayor's unlawful expenditure of over $60,000 of taxpayer’s money.

Vice Mayor David Briley is expected to take office immediately after being sworn in. In her statement at the morning press conference, the mayor thanked all her supporters and staff who supported her during the many "difficult" months. Barry also said she hopes her recent actions will not discredit the work she has done for the county.

Details of the affair

Barry had earlier admitted to having an affair with Sgt. Robert Forrest of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. Forrest has since resigned from the force and after the news of the Extramarital Affair became public his wife filed for a divorce. However, Bruce Barry has continued showing his support for his wife on social media. The mayor issued her statement saying she accepted full responsibility for her actions and apologized for the pain she caused her family and the family of the sergeant.

News of the affair prompted the formation of a special committee to investigate whether Megan had misused the county funds to further her interests. A lot of questions were raised among them being whether Sgt. Forrest's six-figure overtime pay over the three years was justified. The committee also questioned whether the affair played any part in her decision not to support a civilian review board of the force.

Is this goodbye?

Being the first woman to be sworn in as mayor of Nashville, a lot was expected of her. Nashville citizens have continued expressing their disappointment while others show their unwavering support for the mayor. Some Democrats referred to the mayor as a rising star in politics. Though the affair derailed her first term, her guilty plea has done severe damage to her political career. The investigation into her relationship with Forrest uncovered some nude photos on Forrest’s work cell phone which suggested the two had relations while the sergeant was still on duty.
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