11/19/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 11/19/2021 13:45
ATHENS, Ga. - 13 individuals are federally charged resulting from an ongoing FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force investigation into an organization of alleged drug traffickers and violent offenders in Athens-Clarke County with ties to metro Atlanta. An indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt.
Federal search warrants were executed in Athens on Thursday, Nov. 18, resulting from federal indictments unsealed yesterday charging the following individuals:
Initial appearances for the defendants occurred on Thursday, Nov. 18., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles H. Weigle. Their detention hearings were continued until Monday, Nov. 22, in Macon, Georgia, federal court.
Four firearms, 6.9 pounds of marijuana, three ounces of cocaine, 2.3 ounces of heroin and $6,491 were seized during yesterday's operation in Athens, bringing the total amount of items seized during the course of the investigation in Athens and metro Atlanta to the following (street value estimates of illegal drugs listed):
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
This case is being investigated by the FBI's Athens Middle Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force, comprised of members from the FBI, the GBI Gang Unit, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD), the Oconee County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) and the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC) in partnership with the Northeast Georgia Regional Drug Task Force, the ACCPD Gang Unit, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, the Georgia Department of Community Supervision (GDOC) and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia. In addition, the Georgia State Patrol, the Georgia Department of Revenue, the Atlanta Police Department, the Brookhaven Police Department, the DeKalb County Police Department, the Gwinnett County Police Department, the Henry County Police Department, the South Fulton Police Department, the Barrow County Sheriff's Office, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, the Oglethorpe County Sheriff's Office and the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office are assisting in this investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison is prosecuting the case.