News Releases
INDICTMENTS UNSEALED IN "PROJECT SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS” HEROIN RING PROSECUTIONS
July 28, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Vanessa McLemore, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Richard Pennington, Chief, Atlanta Police Department (APD); and the other local, state, and federal partners of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) announce that a federal grand jury has returned seven indictments charging fifteen DEFENDANTS with heroin distribution.
The defendants charged are:
ARNETTA BEARD, a/k/a “Yogi,” age 34, of Atlanta, Georgia;
BRODERICK JACKSON, a/k/a “Big Rick,” age 34, of Atlanta, Georgia;
FREDERICK DOUGLAS, a/k/a “Fred,” age 41, of Atlanta, Georgia;
JAMES WATKINS, a/k/a “Fred’s Boy,” “Ben,” and
“Bo,” age 49, of Atlanta, Georgia;
SHEILA JONES, age 52, of Atlanta, Georgia;
ANTONIO PAYNE, a/k/a “Baldhead,” age 34, of Atlanta, Georgia;
MARQUIT STROZIER, a/k/a “Mike,” age 23, of Atlanta, Georgia;
KENDRICK TERRELL, a/k/a “Kendrick,” a/k/a “Robert Smith,”
age 35, of Atlanta, Georgia;
ANTONIO EVANS, a/k/a “Tonio,” a/k/a “Tony,” age 45,
of Atlanta, Georgia;
JONATHAN EVANS, a/k/a “Johnny,” age 50, of Atlanta, Georgia;
RONALD MCGINTY, a/k/a “Ronnie,” a/k/a “Old Dude,”
age 58, of College Park, Georgia;
RAYMOND HOLLIS, a/k/a “Sporty,” a/k/a “J,” age 47,
of Atlanta, Georgia;
TERRY ROSS, age 47, of Atlanta, Georgia;
DELANDER RUTLEDGE, a/k/a “Pimpin’,” age 37, of Atlanta,
Georgia;
JAMES WALKER, a/k/a “Alfred Dent,” a/k/a “Fro,” age
48, of Atlanta, Georgia.
The indictments were returned under seal during the last eight weeks and unsealed yesterday.
The heroin distribution charged took place in the English Avenue, Vine City, and West End communities, which are Atlanta neighborhoods located just West of downtown. These communities are located in or near the four PSN focus areas in the city, areas chosen because they have suffered from high levels of drug trafficking and violent crime, particularly firearms-related crime, for many years. PSN is a national initiative that permits each U. S. Attorney to develop individualized strategies and partnerships with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and with community residents and community associations to reduce violent crime.
Over the past two and a half years the PSN focus on these neighborhoods has produced significant federal sentences for offenders involved in illegal drugs and illegal guns in these areas. Three defendants have already been sentenced in 2005, and one is scheduled for sentencing in August. On December 15, 2004, GERALD BERNARD MORGAN, a/k/a “Rent,” age 33, of Atlanta, Georgia; entered a plea of guilty to heroin distribution, and he is scheduled for sentencing on August 29, 2005. On May 26, 2005, JIMMY LYNCH, a/ka “Bent Over Jimmy,” age 64, of Atlanta, Georgia; was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison for narcotics distribution. On May 23, 2005, BERNARD GATES, a/k/a “Squirt,” age 38, of Atlanta, Georgia; was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for narcotics distribution. On February 9, 2005, KENNY HODGES, age 24, of Atlanta, Georgia; was sentenced to 5 and three quarter years for being a felon in possession and using a firearm to further drug trafficking. The multi-agency investigations also produced earlier convictions and significant federal sentences for illegal drug distribution and illegal firearms violations for these defendants: on August 23, 2005, GREGORY EVANS, a/k/a "Boo," age 43, of Atlanta, Georgia, who pled guilty to federal firearms charges, will be sentenced; on Aug. 12, 2004, DERRICK RILEY, a/k/a "Little D," age 22, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 7 and a half years in federal prison for federal firearms violations; on March 18, 2004, JOHN CLARK, a/k/a "J.C.," age 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for federal firearms violations; on Sept. 10, 2003, VICTOR HILL, a/k/a "Fat Cat," age 43, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 12 and a half years in federal prison for narcotics distribution; and on October 30, 2002, ISMAEL MARTE-GARCIA, a/k/a "Coco," age 35, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for federal firearms violations.
At a news conference this afternoon outside the Atlanta Police Department’s Vine City mini-precinct, Deputy United States Attorney Nina Hunt and Criminal Chief F. Gentry Shelnutt, of the United States Attorney’s Office, Special Agent in Charge Vanessa McLemore of ATF, and Deputy Chief Pete Andresen of APD will provide details of the operation which resulted in the defendants’ arrests and in the arrests of heroin purchasers who reside in six different metro Atlanta counties.
In a written statement, United States Attorney David Nahmias said, “Heroin distributors have operated too easily in this neighborhood for far too many years, making life dangerous and unpleasant for law-abiding residents. Those who distribute heroin here should pay attention because we plan to send you to federal prison for a long time. Those who use heroin should also recognize times are changing. I suggest you seek help for your heroin addiction because your supply will be drying up and this neighborhood does not need addicts seeking illegal drugs here.”
Vanessa McLemore said, “Firearms form the common link between gang crime, violent crime and drug crime. Therefore, ATF takes a hard stance on the investigation, arrest and removal of these criminal violators from our streets in Atlanta.”
Atlanta Chief Pennington said, “The arrests of heroin purchasers who reside in six different metro Atlanta counties illustrates this is not just an urban problem. Heroin distribution impacts the entire metro-Atlanta area. I join U. S. Attorney Nahmias in urging users to find help to defeat their addiction.” Pennington added, “Working with our PSN partners we have seen significant reductions in shootings and shooting victims, not only in the PSN focus areas, but throughout the city of Atlanta. Overall violent crime is declining. The homicide rate in Atlanta is the lowest it has been since 1965. We are encouraged our crime fighting efforts are having an impact, but our task is far from complete.”
United States Attorney Nahmias, ATF Special Agent in Charge McLemore, and Atlanta’s Chief Pennington gratefully acknowledge the assistance of many other PSN partners in this operation: the U. S. Marshal’s Southeastern Fugitive Task Force; the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA); United States Probation; Georgia Department of Corrections; and Georgia Board of Pardons & Paroles.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
(NEWS MEDIA NOTE: The United States Attorney’s Office, the ATF, and the APD will hold a press conference on Thursday, July 28, 2005 at 2:30 p.m. at the APD Vine City Mini-Precinct, located at the corner of Magnolia Street, N.W. and Vine Street N.W. They will make other law enforcement officers and community representatives available at the news conference for interviews. Dr. Barbara Lattimore, Director, and Dr. Simbo Babitope, of the Fulton County Department of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases will be available from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. for an interview about treatment available for heroin addiction. You may reach them to make arrangements for an interview at 115 Martin Luther King, 2nd Floor, Suite 215, Atlanta, Georgia, (404) 730-0249.)
Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Alley, Joy Lampley-Fortson, and Angela Jordan are prosecuting the cases.
For further information please contact David E. Nahmias (pronounced NAH-me-us), United States Attorney or Nina L. Hunt, Deputy United States Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.