A judge in Stephens County Superior Court sentenced a convicted drug trafficker to eight more years in prison after he pleaded guilty to charges tied to a shooting.
34-year-old Demetrius Sanchez Smith pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges relating to a shooting in Toccoa two years ago. Smith’s trial was set to begin on Jan. 22, but he entered his plea before the court empaneled the jury for trial.
Smith pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, violation of the State Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Senior Judge Albert Collier sentenced Smith to forty years, with the first eight to be served in custody. The judge also banished Smith from the Mountain Judicial Circuit, which includes Habersham, Stephens, and Rabun counties.
Criminal street gang ties
Monday’s guilty plea follows Smith’s September 18, 2023, plea and conviction for trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine and violating the state’s street gang act. He was sentenced to 20 years with 12 to serve for those crimes.
Court documents indicate Smith has ties to the Bloods criminal street gang.
In 2021, he was tried and acquitted of murder in the death of Joel Keshon Green. After his acquittal, Smith was released from custody in October 2021 and was re-arrested on the trafficking charges four months later.
According to the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s office, multiple co-defendants in the Jan. 2, 2022 shooting also resolved their cases before going to trial. They were convicted of street gang activity, conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, and hindering apprehension.
The GBI’s Region Eight Field Office and Gang Task Force, the Toccoa Police Department, and the FBI’s North Georgia Major Offenders Task Force investigated the shooting.
Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Rebecca James and Chief ADA Suzanne Boykin prosecuted the case with assistance from fellow prosecutors Andrew Smallwood and Alex Godoy.
