Cobb County DA: Gang, drug bust sends 13 to prison

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COBB COUNTY, Ga. — More than a dozen gang-related convictions were announced Tuesday by Cobb County authorities.

Cobb County District Attorney Vic Reynolds said 13 members or associates of the criminal street gang known as Good Product Team (GPT) have pleaded guilty to racketeering and gang act charges and were sentenced to prison.

Dozens of users who bought drugs from the 13 were sentenced to probation and treatment, Reynolds said.

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Agents assigned to the Marietta-Cobb-Smyrna Organized Crime Unit and the Cobb Anti-Gang Enforcement Unit began investigating GPT in July 2013 through electronic and physical surveillance, confidential informants, undercover operations and social media.

Twelve search warrants were executed in August 2014 at properties across Cobb County and in the metro area, and 48 people were arrested.

Reynolds said agents seized more than 125 grams of heroin, more than 52 grams of methamphetamine, nearly a half-million dollars in cash and seven vehicles.

Suspects in a Cobb County gang and drug bust

The heroin had an estimated street value of $18,897.

A total of 46 people were indicted in the case in June 2015.

Charges varied by defendant and included three counts of violation of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), seven counts of violation of the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and single counts of trafficking in heroin and trafficking in methamphetamine.

Ezzard Evans, aka “Red” or “E,” 28, of Atlanta, was the only person charged with all 12 counts. Evans pleaded guilty on Dec. 14 to racketeering, all seven gang charges, including exercising leadership in a gang, and both trafficking charges, Reynolds said.

Chief Magistrate Joyette Holmes, sitting as a Superior Court judge, presided over the case. She sentenced Evans to 30 years, with 14 years to serve in custody and the balance on probation. Evans was also ordered to pay fines totaling $300,000 on the trafficking convictions.

He has remained in custody since his arrest on Aug. 19, 2014, and will get credit for the time he has served.

“This is a great example of how law enforcement works together in Cobb County,” Reynolds said. “The MCS task force devoted many man hours to this case in an effort to remove a criminal street gang involved in the distribution of drugs, primarily heroin, from our county. After the arrests, the agents worked closely with the DA’s gang unit to make sure all defendants were prosecuted. The system made sure the heroin users were afforded treatment as part of their sentences, while ensuring the dealers and gang members were sent to prison.”

Assistant District Attorney Jaret Usher, who prosecuted the case, told the court that GPT originated in Cobb in 2009 as a subset of PIRU, a criminal street gang, and trafficked heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana, primarily in the Favor Road area but ultimately to other areas of Georgia and into Tennessee.

The drugs were being moved at a business called Tattoos by Ho, which had locations on Austell Road and South Cobb Parkway. John Ho, the owner of the business and a defendant in the case, was shot in September 2013 during an armed robbery of the business, and police investigating the armed robbery and shooting found heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and scales in the establishment.

The additional defendants convicted of gang-act violations in the case are as follows, according to Reynolds:

  • John Franklin Ho, 43, of Douglasville, pleaded guilty Jan. 5 to racketeering, six counts of gang act violations and the two trafficking counts. Ho was sentenced to 30 years, with 12 years to serve and the rest on probation, and was fined $300,000.
  • Lamar Michael Odom, aka "Moonie," 27, of Hiram, pleaded guilty Jan. 6 to racketeering and six gang act violations. Odom was sentenced to 30 years, with 10 years to serve and the rest on probation.
  • Brandon Rickey McFarland, aka "Geezy," 27, of Marietta, pleaded guilty Jan. 6 to racketeering and six gang act violations. McFarland was sentenced to 30 years, with 10 years to serve and the rest on probation.
  • Aurelius Giovanni Madison, aka "Ray Ray," 26, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty Aug. 15 to racketeering and six gang act violations. Madison was sentenced to 20 years, with 10 years to serve in prison and the rest on probation.
  • Dequentin Roshawn Madison, aka "Jizzle," 28, of Smyrna, pleaded guilty June 30 to racketeering and six gang act violations. Madison was sentenced to 25 years, with 17 years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Bernard Mathis, aka "BJ," 27, of Austell, pleaded guilty June 15 to racketeering and six gang act violations. Mathis was sentenced to 25 years, with 10 years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Brandon Daqwuan Truitt, aka "Sleep," 29, of Smyrna, pleaded guilty on June 22 to racketeering and four gang act violations. Truitt was sentenced to 10 years, with six years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Thomas Dewayne Works Jr., aka "Fatboi," 29, of Marietta, pleaded guilty June 28 to racketeering and six gang act violations. Works was sentenced to 20 years, with 10 years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Works' mother, Billy Jo Works, aka "Ma Dukes," 47, of Marietta, pleaded guilty Aug. 11 to one count of racketeering. Works was sentenced to 20 years, with three years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Derrick Jarrod McDonald, aka "Moochie," 24, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty June 28 to racketeering and six gang act violations. McDonald was sentenced to 20 years, with 10 years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Tommy Lee Gresham, aka "Stretch," 39, of Marietta, pleaded guilty June 28 to racketeering and six gang act violations. Gresham was sentenced to 20 years, with nine years to serve in custody and the rest on probation.
  • Antoine Maurice Atkinson, aka "Tweezy," 28, of Marietta, pleaded guilty Dec. 12 to racketeering, six gang act violations and the trafficking charges. He will be sentenced later.

Reynolds said he knows the sentences will not stop the flow of heroin in the county.

"Heroin distributors and gang members, to use an analogy, remind me a bit of a cockroach. You squash one, there will be another one coming down the pike," he said.

Missy Owen started a place called “The Zone” in Marietta after her son died of a heroin overdose. It provides a place for recovering addicts to hang out, get counseling, medical and job assistance.

She applauds the DA for sending the dealers to prison, but giving the users an option for treatment.

“There’s a 92 percent relapse rate with heroin, so if they don’t get supportive services then chance are, they are going right back,” Owen said.

Prosecutors said some of the users who took the plea deal have called to tell thank them for giving them a second chance.