Several suggested Tuesday that Mr. Uzochukwu was set up, possibly by another contractor who was jealous that Mr. Uzochukwu won the bid and got the contract.

Mayor Bob Young said Mr. Uzochukwu set himself up, however.

The mayor said the criminal investigation began when his office turned over credible information to the sheriff.

The investigation of CSRA Waste began earlier this month 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.

Last week, the sheriff's office said it launched a criminal investigation resulting in Monday's arrest of Mr. Uzochukwu, 54. He was charged with theft of services and is accused of bilking the city out of landfill fees by mixing outside trash with the city's, then dumping it all for free.

The sheriff said police used orange bags as "bait trash" to allow them to track where the garbage went, what it was mixed with and how dumping fees were charged.

Commissioner Marion Williams said Tuesday he disagrees "100 percent" with Mr. Uzochukwu's arrest and hinted he believes it might have been racially motivated. Mr. Uzochukwu is black.

Mr. Williams said that he has previously brought allegations of irregularities in other departments to city officials' attention but that no one was interested in hearing about them.

"Now, this is entrapment," the commissioner said. "As far as I see, there is a plot. There's a plan that's been set to do some things, and I just think it's unfair.

"I think ever since the man won the contract, he's been harassed. He's not been treated fairly. And this city needs to grow up and be diverse and not just for some of the people."

Mr. Williams said that he is not clear about how Mr. Uzochukwu might have been trapped but that jealousy was the motivation.

Commissioner Henry Brigham said the fact that someone went after Mr. Uzochukwu's trucks with a movie camera looks suspicious.

"It looks like they planned to do something," he said. "That's the thing that kind of concerns me. If you want to catch somebody doing something, you can do it if you just go out there to do it. Looks to me like that's a setup."

Commissioner Lee Beard said that when complaints of irregularities have arisen in the past, commissioners sent in an auditor to investigate before having someone arrested.

During Tuesday's closed-door legal meeting, City Attorney Jim Wall outlined the city's options concerning the CSRA Waste contract, the most severe being to immediately cancel it.

Public Works Director Teresa Smith said there have been no changes at the landfill to ensure contractors weren't dumping waste from their private pickups since the arrest. With only two code enforcement officers to manage the contract, there is no effective action that can be taken, she said.

The sheriff's office served a search warrant at the company's offices Monday, the sheriff said. Investigators are going through documents and examining weights and prices to determine how much money the city lost.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength said the company mixed city trash with trash from two state facilities and two businesses - Gracewood State School and Hospital, Augusta Regional Youth Detention Center, Dollar Tree on Deans Bridge Road and AAA Gun & Pawn Brokers on Tobacco Road.

Mr. Uzochukwu, who was released on bond Monday, did not return phone messages left at his office and home.

Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylviaco@augustachronicle.com.