The company has been bilking the city since it went into business with it in 1997, bringing trash to Augusta's landfill from as far away as Sparta, Ga., and Edgefield, S.C., without paying for it, according to documents compiled by the district attorney's office.

CSRA Waste President Kester Uzochukwu, who controls more than 70 percent of city-run garbage service, stands accused of using his Richmond County landfill exemption to avoid tipping fees by passing off private trash as the city's. He was arrested in November and indicted Tuesday for felony theft of services, which carries a sentence of 10 years in prison or on probation.

The prosecution's discovery file, which has been given to attorneys on both sides of the garbage dispute, contains transcripts of witness interviews with Richmond County sheriff's officers. It also includes landfill records, truck routes, personal and city memos and a computer-generated calendar detailing Mr. Uzochukwu's personal appointments from May 2001.

An investigation of CSRA Waste began last year after The Augusta Chronicle revealed its reporters had seen CSRA Waste workers dumping recyclables in with household trash, a violation of the company's contract with the city.

According to testimony from CSRA Waste truck drivers, the company's front-end loader trucks, which collect refuse from the Edgefield Federal Correction Institution and Hancock State Prison traveled to Augusta, where garbage was dumped and charged to the city.

Also included in prosecution files was testimony from public works employees. Information from those interviews, along with a handwritten note dated Dec. 15, 1998, indicates that city officials were told CSRA Waste might be mixing its private contracts in with city contracts.

According to police interviews, a fired CSRA Waste driver told landfill employees he was instructed to mix trash from public and private contracts. Then Public Works Director Dexter White, who now heads public works for Macon City Government, was told about it but said he needed more proof, according to police interviews and a memo that indicates he spoke with the CSRA Waste driver about the allegations.

Mr. White was not in his office in Macon on Friday and could not be reached for comment.

The file also includes pages of landfill records indicating CSRA Waste did not pay for any private front-end loader garbage during all of 2001, nor for four months of 2000.

Mr. Uzochukwu's arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 8, after which a trial date will be set.

Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215.