FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Warrants released to Channel 2 Action News on Thursday reveal new details on how prosecutors realized a defendant in the YSL trial and a Fulton County deputy were illegally communicating on Instagram.
Channel 2′s Michael Seiden learned that Fulton County Deputy Akeiba Stanley was booked into jail Friday on charges of reckless conduct, violation of oath of office, conspiracy to commit a felony and hindering apprehension or punishment of a criminal, according to jail records.
According to the warrant, deputies saw Eppinger sitting inches away from his attorney, Eric Johnson, in the courtroom using Instagram on Johnson’s computer more than half of a dozen times. Each time, the deputies reported that they reprimanded Eppinger and Johnson.
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Defendants are allowed to use their attorney’s laptops during the jury selection process, but only to review discovery from the case.
Last month, deputies say they watched as Eppinger had a window up on the laptop looking at discovery, but a separate window taking up a small portion of the bottom right corner of the screen appeared to show him typing. They saw him minimize the second screen when deputies walked near him.
The day after that incident, a captain with the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office took a photo of Eppinger using Instagram and messaging someone named Koren Gates, the warrant reads.
Investigators were able to identify the Instagram account Eppinger was using under the name Big Bhris, which is his nickname associated with the YSL street gang.
After looking through the other accounts it was following, they found @short_ness4life, which only followed three other accounts. One of those accounts was associated with another deputy who worked at the Fulton County Courthouse.
When questioned about the account, the deputy said he believed @short_ness4life was Stanley’s account.
Stanley’s middle name is Koren and is associated with an address on Gates Ave., which would account for the use of the name “Koren Gates,” the warrant alleges.
In May, there was a violent altercation between Eppinger and a detention officer in which Eppinger was actively resisting being detained. Investigators say Stanley stood by and did not assist in detaining Eppinger.
When he became agitated after the incident, Stanley rubbed his back to comfort him and said “look at me, baby,” the warrant states.
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Authorities say Eppinger gave Stanley a birthday card purchased from the jail’s commissary signed “Big B,” which is short for Big Bhris, according to the warrant.
The warrant goes on to say that an investigator watched Eppinger typing on Instagram, smile and look up at Deputy Stanley. He stated that he then saw Deputy Stanley look at her Apple Watch, type on it, look up and smile at Eppinger. This happened several times.
Prosecutors used these new warrants to name Eppinger’s attorney as a co-conspirator and have his case separated from the other eight defendants in the YSL trial.
Both Instagram accounts appear to have been removed from the social media site.
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