Charges dropped against man connected to Atlanta bribery case

ATLANTA — Charges have been dropped against a man once accused of throwing a brick to intimidate a contractor in the Atlanta bribery investigation.

Shandarrick Barnes said he took a bus back from a state prison in South Georgia on Thursday after his release on a new parole, but he doesn’t know if the journey ahead will involve the federal corruption investigation of Atlanta city government.

"Do you have information that can help in the federal investigation of the Atlanta city government?" Channel 2's Mark Winne asked.

"I don't," Barnes responded.

"But do you know enough about the investigation to say that?" Winne asked.

"I don't know the details of what the investigation pertains to," Barnes said.

His attorney, Ted Salter, says he’s only on the fringe of the Atlanta city corruption investigation, in large part because he had been accused of throwing a brick through a window at the home of businessman and cooperating federal witness E.R. Mitchell Jr.

Salter says he believes Barnes' Fulton County indictment earlier this year for terroristic threats and criminal damage to property was a key reason the parole board revoked the parole he'd been on for a racketeering conviction since June 2013. He said the Fulton County DA's office decision to get a judge to drop the indictment was the key reason the parole board has released him on parole again.

"I was impressed with the way they were willing to come back and reconsider it," Salter said.

Salter said in recent days, he's gotten a call from a federal prosecutor about the city corruption probe, but doesn't want his client talking about the details of the state or federal cases publicly yet because of the evolving state of the federal investigation.

"It's been physically, mentally draining," Barnes said.

Cox Media Group