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Driver arrested following police chase on GA 365

By
Joy Purcell
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A Conyers woman was injured in a wreck during a police chase in Habersham County. That chase ended after the fleeing driver crashed his pickup on Mt. Zion Road, officials say.

William Welch, 23, allegedly fled after a state trooper attempted to stop him for speeding on GA 365 South near Kudzu Hill around 2:12 p.m. Sunday, December 12.

In a release issued late Sunday, Georgia State Patrol Post 7 Commander Donnie Sadler says Welch was driving a 1997 Dodge Dakota pickup. The arrest warrant states the vehicle was checked going 93 mph in a 65 mph zone.

“The driver of the Dakota failed to stop and initiated a pursuit. The pursuit lasted for approximately 5 miles on GA 365,” Sadler says.

During the chase, the fleeing pickup struck a 2013 Honda Civic, causing it to leave the roadway. The driver of Honda, Rebecca Jean Bingham, 33, sustained minor injuries and was taken to Habersham Medical Center.

The Trooper continued the pursuit and attempted to perform a PIT maneuver twice, Sadler says. The pursuit ended when Welch made a left turn onto Mt. Zion Road, lost control, and crashed.

The trooper took Welch into custody without further incident and charged him with multiple offenses including DUI, attempting to elude a police officer, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and traffic violations, jail records show.

Welch was booked into the Habersham County Detention Center. His bond has not been set.

Broader jury pool sought for Arbery death hate crimes trial

By
Associated Press
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From left, Travis McMichael, William "Roddie" Bryan, and Gregory McMichael during their trial at at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga. Jurors on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021, convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood. (Credit: Pool, file via AP)

Attorneys in the upcoming federal hate crimes trial of the three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery want the jury pool to come from an expansive area of Georgia that covers 43 counties, including some that are a four-hour drive from the courthouse where the trial will be held.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint motion Thursday in U.S. District Court, with both sides in agreement that casting a wider net for potential jurors will improve the odds of seating an impartial jury. The first trial in Arbery’s slaying, seen by many as a reckoning on racial injustice in the legal system, resulted in murder convictions in a state court the day before Thanksgiving.

Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan, were all found guilty of murder and other crimes in Feb. 23, 2020, killing of Arbery. Bryan recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael blasting the 25-year-old Black man with a shotgun after Arbery spent several minutes running as the three men chased him in pickup trucks.

The murder trial in state court was not the end of the legal troubles for the McMichaels and Bryan. They now face hate crime charges at the federal level that allege they violated Arbery’s civil rights, unjustly pursuing and threatening him on a public street because he was Black.

A judge has scheduled jury selection in the federal trial to begin Feb. 7. The McMichaels and Bryan pleaded not guilty to the hate crime charges in May.

Like the state trial, the federal case will be tried in Glynn County, where the killing occurred just outside the port city of Brunswick. Typically, a federal jury would be drawn from residents of Glynn County as well as six neighboring counties that make up the Brunswick Division of the federal court system’s Southern District of Georgia.

“The parties believe that it is likely that many potential jurors from the Brunswick Division will have experienced sustained exposure to the case and may have formed immutable opinions, in one direction or the other, that will ultimately preclude them from sitting on a jury in this case,” the attorneys said in their legal motion.

In a separate court filing, Travis McMichael’s attorney, Amy Lee Copeland, asked the judge to consider moving the trial to a different city within the same judicial district, such as Savannah or Augusta.

The attorneys noted that court rules allow for a jury pool to be assembled from the entire Southern District, which has a population of more than 1.6 million people. Each U.S. state has between one and four federal court districts, which vary substantially by size and population.

Georgia’s Southern District covers 43 of its 159 counties. Farthest from the courthouse is rural Wilkes County, located more than 210 miles (338 kilometers) north of Brunswick.

The next pretrial hearing in the federal case is scheduled for Dec. 20.

The McMichaels armed themselves with guns and jumped in a pickup truck after they spotted Arbery running past their home on a Sunday afternoon last year. They later told police they suspected he was a burglar, though they did not see him committing any crimes.

Bryan joined the chase in his own truck, telling police he used the vehicle to force Arbery into a ditch and cut off his escape from the subdivision. He used his cellphone to record video of Travis McMichael shooting Arbery as he tried to run around the McMichael’s idling truck.

Travis McMichael testified he shot Arbery in self-defense after the running man attacked him and tried to grab his gun. Defense attorneys said the three men had reasonable grounds to suspect Arbery was a criminal and wanted only to detain him until police could arrive.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the federal case say they hope to avoid the sort of slow-moving grind that made jury selection last 2 1/2 weeks before the state trial could begin.

The state’s jury pool was drawn exclusively from Glynn County, where Arbery’s death had dominated news reports and social media feeds. Most potential jurors arrived at the courthouse already knowing basic facts about the case, and many were dismissed for having strong opinions.

In a separate legal filing in the federal case, prosecutors and defense attorneys asked the judge to approve a 14-page questionnaire to be sent to potential jurors ahead of time along with their jury duty notices. They proposed using the questionnaires to identify any pool members that both sides agree are too biased to fairly hear the case before jury selection begins.

Attorneys noted it would not be the first time a federal jury had been summoned from all 43 counties in Georgia’s Southern District. That happened in 2005 for the federal corruption trial of Charles Walker of Augusta, who had been the powerful Democratic leader of the state Senate.

This article appears on Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News.

Two-vehicle crash in Mt. Airy sends three people to the hospital

By
Joy Purcell
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A Habersham County woman suffered two broken legs and several other people were injured in a two-vehicle crash Sunday evening in Mt. Airy.

The crash happened shortly after 5 p.m. on December 12 at the intersection of Dicks Hill Parkway and Sixth Street.

State troopers say 45-year-old Jonathan Downer failed to yield while turning left onto Sixth Street and pulled into the path of a northbound GMC 3500 pickup truck.

The truck struck the Toyota Avalon Downer was driving, injuring Downer and his four passengers, including a one-year-old girl. Downer, the baby, and an adult passenger, D. J. Arrowood, 25, of Cleveland, suffered minor injuries. Two other passengers were more seriously injured, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

65-year-old Cheryl Downer of Mt. Airy suffered two broken femurs and 64-year-old Linda Gragg, also of Mt. Airy, suffered a broken wrist and laceration to her head. Habersham EMS transported them to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for treatment along with a passenger from the pickup, 44-year-old Angela Lance of Gainesville.

The driver of the pickup, Brent Clark, 44, of Mt. Airy, was not injured.

Georgia State Patrol Post 7 Commander Donnie Sadler says charges are pending.

 

Advocacy group pushes tort reform in Georgia

By
Stanley Dunlap
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A tort reform group designed to protect business interests ranks the Georgia Supreme Court among the worst offenders in 2021 after court decisions expanded civil liability against businesses. (Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder)

When a Georgia woman didn’t notify her insurance provider about a lawsuit filed against her for hitting a bicyclist with her car, the insurer ended up on the hook for $3 million anyway.

In April, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that although the policyholder was required to provide notice, the insurer should have anticipated that an unreliable and bad driver might not alert the company.

The case is being highlighted now as one of the reasons the American Tort Reform Association, which lobbies on behalf of corporate civil liability interests, ranked Georgia’s Supreme Court as the third-worst “judicial hellhole” in the country for 2021. The group is advocating for new state legislation it claims could save residents and businesses billions.

The association lambasted state Supreme Court rulings it says have eliminated the ability to spread the blame – and damages – among multiple parties in certain cases and increased “bad faith” liability for insurance companies.

“The decline of Georgia’s civil justice system is somewhat surprising and disheartening,” the association’s president, Tiger Joyce, said. “The state was on the Judicial Hellholes Watch List for a number of years, and the Legislature has made some attempts at improvement, but sadly the Supreme Court has continued to make decisions that expand liability and create a toxic environment for small businesses.”

Republican lawmakers have pushed business-friendly tort bills in recent sessions, with mixed success. It remains to be seen if any new push will gain traction when legislators return to the Gold Dome next month.

Timothy Lytton, a law professor at Georgia State University, said that while the tort association is rightly concerned about the potential cost of business, it also ignores important factors on the other end.

“The association does not take into account at all the cost associated with accidents that could have been prevented like personal injury, or the need to increase police protection because stores are not properly putting enough security guards on their premises,” Lytton said. “I think it’s very hard to know from the judicial hellholes report whether or not these cases have been unbalanced, been good or bad economically for Georgia because the report doesn’t take into account any of the benefits of preventing injuries.”

Georgia is a regular fixture on the tort association’s naughty list, said Democratic state Sen. Elena Parent of Atlanta, who shrugged off the group’s criticism.

“This has been a constant refrain from this organization and there are bills filed to restrict access to the civil justice system every year,” said the business attorney. “They are usually defeated because many legislators recognize that Georgia is considered a great place to do business.”

Some key so-called tort reform legislation has moved through the Legislature over the last decade or so under GOP-leadership, including a 2005 Tort Reform Act, and a bill capping medical malpractice pain-and-suffering awards that ended up in a court battle.

In the last couple of years, legislation that would have limited damages in cases such as product liability stalled despite strong support from some Republican lawmakers who regularly file tort bills.

Last year, Senate Bill 415 failed to make it through during a session cut short by the pandemic. At the time, the measure had the backing of influential Republicans who said the bill was needed to stave off the lucrative jury verdicts that hurt businesses and consumers.

Dahlonega Republican state Sen. Steve Gooch held a press conference in early 2020 at the Capitol to push for tort legislation that would make it harder for victims of negligence to sue and would cap punitive damages in product liability cases at $250,000. Georgia Recorder file photo 

Proponents of business-friendly tort legislation, however, scored a victory last year with the passage of a bill shielding companies from legal liability for COVID-19 cases unless they prove “gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, reckless infliction of harm, or intentional infliction of harm.”

Meanwhile, lawmakers have also created a state business court that opened in 2020 and helps resolve issues such as business contracts disputes and certain liability cases.

Despite the fact that fewer cases went to trial following the pandemic, the report claims Georgia continues to have a poor reputation for its number of verdicts over $1 million, and it raises concern about the role of third-party litigation financing in courtroom proceedings.

The report highlighted a case this year where a Rabun County jury awarded $200 million to the parents of a 7-year-old boy who died in a 2014 boating accident. The attorney representing the parents, who had rented a boat, said they wanted to send a message to the boating industry that safety must be taken more seriously.

Even though civil liability increases the costs businesses incur to implement certain practices, it is also the reason why grocery stores will quickly clean up spilled beverages so that customers aren’t injured, Lytton said.

While some settlements may seem extreme, jurors must also account for potential longer-term costs that the victim faces, Lytton said.

Lytton also criticized the tort reform association for portraying the justices as being overwhelmingly unfair toward businesses.

A Supreme Court spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.

“There’s a case where the Georgia Supreme Court actually did something that is usually associated with a fairly conservative approach to deciding cases and that is they looked at the strict textual language of the statute” Lytton said. “And on that basis, they said the provisions that limited the liability of the corporation actually did not include the current case because of their strict interpretation of the text.”

That case, Alston Bird LLC v. Hatcher Management Holdings, is considered by the tort reform organization as the most significant decision in its 20 years of reports after the Supreme Court ruled that a business or individual can be required to pay the full damages awarded if it is the only one sued, regardless of whether others caused it.

“The Georgia General Assembly can clarify the statute to address the court’s ruling and the absurd result that the ability of a jury to allocate fault among responsible parties depends on how many defendants a plaintiff names in a complaint,” the report said.

Varsity swim teams place first at Winter Snow Invitational

By
TFS Athletics
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Madison Dampier (photo by Austin Poffenberger)

The Tallulah Falls School varsity swimmers dominated this past Friday night at the annual Winter Snow Invitational. The girls placed 1st out of 5 teams with 512 points, almost 200 points ahead of the 2nd place team. The boys team placed 1st out of 5 teams with 417 points, just 12 points ahead of the 2nd place team.

Notable individual swims include Madison Dampier’s 1st-place finishes in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. She also earned state qualifying times in these two events. Montgomery Dampier finished 1st and earned state qualifying times in both the 200-yard Individual Medley and the 100-yard breaststroke. She set a new school record in the 100-yard breaststroke, breaking the previous record held by Virginia Griswold (’19).

Emre Sungur set new school records in both the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, breaking records he had set earlier in the season. Sungur earned 1st place in these races as well. Sungur, Madison, Montgomery, Layne Kafsky, Lily Turpin, Jason Dong, Henry Rickman, Nelson Wilkinson, Daya Ssemakula, Karis Tatum, and Tamia Moss all swam to top 3-finishes in their individual events.

“All varsity swimmers competed in at least one scoring relay, this group effort led to victory for both teams,” says coach Rachel Nichols.

The varsity swimmers return to the pool on January 8 at the Shiver Me Timbers Invitational at home.

FULL RESULTS

Championship game recaps

By
Todd Holcomb
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And it all came down to this. Eight high school football champions were crowned this weekend at Georgia State’s Center Parc Stadium. Two were repeats and four came back from runner-up status last year to clinch the coveted state titles.

Class 7A: Collins Hill 24, Milton 8

Recap: Sam Horn, a Missouri commit, passed for 243 yards, giving him 10,037 for his career, good for eighth all-time in Georgia. Travis Hunter, the state’s No. 1 senior prospect, had 10 catches for 153 yards and tied a state record for career TD receptions. But it was Collins Hill’s defense that controlled the game as the Eagles held Milton to a season-low 203 total yards and didn’t allow Milton in the end zone until Collins Hill was up 24-0 in the fourth quarter. Milton scored on a short drive after Bryce Thornton’s 66-yard kickoff return when the game. Seven Collins Hill players had tackles for losses, and Dion Crawford and Jaylen George had two each. Leading 7-0 at halftime, Collins Hill opened the third quarter with a 50-yard pass from Horn to Hunter. Horn scored on a 6-yard run four plays later for a 14-0 lead. Collins Hill stopped Milton on a fourth-and-2 at the Collins Hill 44 later in the quarter, and eight plays later, Horn threw 6 yards to Hunter for a 21-0 lead with 10:27 left.

History: Hunter’s final TD reception was his 46th, all from Horn, a state record for a QB-WR duo. The 46 for a receiver tied the career record set by Rabun County’s Braxton Hicks in 2019. Collins Hill (15-0) became the first team in the highest classification to beat every opponent by 15 or more points since 1971 Valdosta. Milton (13-2) completed its best season since the 2018 state championship.

Class 6A: Buford 21, Hughes 20

Recap: Buford overcame a 14-point first-half deficit, took the lead on Ashton Daniels’ 34-yard pass to Tobi Olawole with 2:55 left and won when Hughes missed a 35-yard field goal on the final play. It was the first field goal that Hughes attempted all season, and it came after the Panthers had driven 62 yards on nine plays. Hughes also missed an extra point on its final touchdown late in the third quarter, leaving the Panthers with a 20-14 lead. Buford began its winning drive with 5:49 left and went 75 yards on eight plays. Daniels converted a third-and-9 with a 16-yard pass to K.J. Bolden. and two plays later, Daniels hit Olawole, who made a diving catch in the end zone. Hughes’ Antonio Daniels, who is committed to Auburn, finished with 157 yards rushing.

History: For the third consecutive season, Buford won a championship after trailing in the fourth quarter. Each comeback has included a critical TD pass from Daniels, a senior committed to Stanford. Buford beat Warner Robins 17-14 in 2019 and Lee County 34-31 last year, both in overtime. This victory gave Buford (14-1) its 14th state title, 13th this century and third in a row. Only Valdosta (24) has more state titles in Georgia. Buford became only the 12th team in history to win a GHSA championship after trailing by 14 points, first since Lee County in 2017. Hughes (13-2) completed its most successful campaign, reaching its first final in its 13th season.

Class 5A: Warner Robins 38, Calhoun 14

Recap: Fred Perry rushed for 233 yards and two touchdowns and led the Demons in tackles with nine solo stops. Calhoun mishandled snaps to the punter on its first two possessions, and Warner Robins cashed the mistakes for a quick 14-0 lead. On the first miscue, punter Beau Black bobbled the snap, and Warner Robins’ Khebrion Puchoon covered on the Calhoun 18. The Demons scored four plays later on Perry’s 3-yard run. With Black now injured, Calhoun turned to Christopher Lewis, but he also bobbled the snap, then made a frantic attempt to punt it. The kick traveled about a yard into the hands of an oncoming Nathan Sanford, a 280-pound lineman, who returned it 41 yards for a touchdown. Despite the disasters, Calhoun trailed only 17-7 with a minute left in the half, but Warner Robins struck again with a 51-yard TD pass from Christon Lane to Cam Flowers for a 24-7 halftime lead.

History: Warner Robins (14-1) defended its state title and became the 10th program in GHSA history to win six championships overall. The victory was Warner Robins’ seventh over a ranked opponent. Calhoun (12-3) finished its best season since its 2017 championship. Calhoun is 4-7 all-time in finals.

Class 4A: Benedictine 35, Carver (Columbus) 28

Recap: Holden Geriner, an Auburn commit, passed for 397 yards and became the ninth quarterback in GHSA finals history to throw four TD passes. They covered 61, 58, 80 and 23 yards. The game’s pivotal moment occurred in the third quarter with Benedictine leading 21-14. Carver’s Jaiden Credle, a 2,000-yard rusher, was running inside Benedictine’s 8-yard line but lost control of the ball. The fumble was recovered by Benedictine’s Michael Smith in the end zone. On the next play, Geriner threw an 80-yard TD pass, hitting a sprinting Kameron Edge in stride about 40 yards downfield, for a 28-14 lead. Carver got back to within 28-22 but never again had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. Benedictine took a knee on Carver’s 7 to end the game.

History: Benedictine (13-2) won its third state title, adding to those won in 2014 and 2016, all under coach Danny Britt. The Cadets finished on a 13-game winning streak after starting 0-2 against out-of-state opponents. They beat their third straight top-five opponent in the playoffs and fifth top-10 foe overall. Geriner finished with 3,377 yards passing for the season, 7,560 for his career. Carver (13-2) fell short in its attempt at its first state title since 2007.

Class 3A: Cedar Grove 56, Carver (Atlanta) 26

Recap: Jamar Graham tied a GHSA finals record with five TD passes. His third, an 80-yarder to Janiran Bonner, gave Cedar Grove a 21-14 lead 1:40 left in the first half, and the Saints never trailed again. A bigger turning point occurred in the third quarter after Carver drove to the Cedar Grove 22. Bad weather forced a one-hour delay. On the first play back, Cedar Grove’s Camren Jackson forced fumble on a sack, and Quinterio Lawson recovered. Five plays later, Graham hit Trevon Ferrell, who had gotten wide open behind Carver’s secondary, for a 40-yard touchdown, and Cedar Grove led 28-14. Kayin Lee, a junior cornerback committed to Georgia, intercepted two passes and had a team-leading six solo tackles.

History: Cedar Grove (11-3) won its fourth state title in six seasons and became the first DeKalb County Schools program to win a fourth championship, breaking away from Lakeside and Avondale, which have three each. Cedar Grove was the only team among three in the finals to win its rematch from the regular season. (Fitzgerald and Irwin County lost.) Graham’s five TD passes tied the finals record set by Valdosta’s Stan Bounds in 1971. Carver (11-2), making its first final since 1967, was stopped short of becoming the first Atlanta city school to win a state championship since 1973 Southwest Atlanta.

Class 2A: Fitzgerald 21, Thomasville 7

Recap: Fitzgerald took a 21-0 lead by scoring on its first three possessions covering 70, 77 and 71 yards. The drives included 33 rushing plays, with two passing plays, and consumed 19:17 of the 24 minutes of the first half. E.J. Lightsey, a four-star linebacker recruit, scored Fitzgerald’s first touchdown, rushed for 52 yards and had a team-high six solo tackles, leading a defense that held Thomasville to three three-and-out possessions and two other drives that ended quickly on interceptions by Jamar Joseph and Christian Solomon. Thomasville was held to a season-low 51 yards rushing. Fitzgerald’s DeNorris Goodwin rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries.

History: Fitzgerald avenged a regular-season loss and won its first state championship since 1948 after six finals losses, including one to Callaway in 2020. Fitzgerald beat its sixth top-10 opponent this season, fourth in the playoffs. Thomasville was stopped short in its bid for a first state title since 1988.

Class A Private: Trinity Christian 55, Prince Avenue 28

Recap: David Dallas threw a 65-yard TD pass to Aaron Gates on the first play from scrimmage, and Bryce Wilcox and Christian Hanson returned interceptions for touchdowns in the first half as Trinity Christian took a 35-0 lead. Prince Avenue got no closer than 42-28. Dallas became the sixth player in finals history to throw four TD passes in a game, and Trinity became the third finalist to return two interceptions for touchdowns in a game (2018 Bainbridge, 1971 Bowdon). Jimbo Batchelor and Josh Dallas also intercepted passes for Trinity.

History: Trinity Christian, a Sharpsburg school that started varsity football in 2011 and joined the GHSA in 2018, won its first state title and avenged its 2020 state finals defeat. Trinity’s state title also was the first for a Coweta County school. Trinity (14-0) is the first unbeaten Class A Private champion since Eagle’s Landing Christian in 2017. Prince Avenue finished 13-2 in what some thought might be a rebuilding season without 2020 all-class player-of-the-year Brock Vandagriff, now at Georgia.

Class A Public: Brooks County 56, Irwin County 28

Recap: Omari Arnold rushed for 320 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries and scored on a 69-yard yard run on the second play from scrimmage and on an 86-yard run after Irwin County had pulled within 35-28 in the fourth quarter. Brooks County scored on seven of its eight drives, three lasting just one play, another lasting two. QB Jamal Sanders’ 23-yard run immediately after an Irwin County fumble made it 21-0 in the first quarter. Irwin got within 28-21 at halftime and 35-28 in the fourth quarter but couldn’t solve Arnold. His 320 yards, though unofficial, surpass Herschel Walker’s 318 in 1979. The five touchdowns tie the state finals record set by Creekside’s Dexter Knox in 2013.

History: Brooks County won its first state title since 1994, avenging eight-point losses in the 2021 regular season and 2020 championship. Both titles came under coach Maurice Freeman, an alumnus. Arnold finished unofficially with 6,558 career rushing yards, good for 12th all-time in Georgia, according to GHSFHA. Irwin County fell short of its bid to become the first Class A Public school to win three straight titles since 1985-87 Lincoln County.

Produced by Georgia High School Football Daily. To sign up for GHSF’s free email newsletter click here.

24 charged with forcing migrants into ‘modern-day slavery’

By
Associated Press
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(Credit: AP Photo/David Goldman)

For years, migrant workers who paid for help entering the U.S. ended up forced to perform farm labor for little to no pay, federal authorities say, cowing to threats of deportation and violence by armed overseers while they lived in dirty, cramped trailers with little food or clean water.

Some who had been promised up to $12 an hour to work on farms in rural South Georgia were instead ordered to dig up onions with their bare hands and got paid only 20 cents per filled bucket as men with guns kept them in check, according to court records. At least two of them died, and another was raped repeatedly.

In a case federal prosecutors bluntly likened to modern slavery, a grand jury indicted 24 people in U.S. District Court on dozens of criminal counts including forced labor, mail fraud, witness tampering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Arraignments in the case have been scheduled for Dec. 21 and Jan. 6 at the federal courthouse in Waycross, near the Georgia-Florida state line.

Authorities said an investigation that began three years ago broke up a criminal enterprise that earned $200 million by exploiting the H-2A work visa program to bring workers from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras into the U.S.

The laborers were forced to pay illegal fees for transportation, food and housing, according to the indictment, while their travel and identification documents were withheld, preventing them from leaving and seeking help.

U.S. Attorney David Estes of the Southern District of Georgia said in a statement the case had freed “more than 100 individuals from the shackles of modern-day slavery and will hold accountable those who put them in chains.”

A federal grand jury in Waycross indicted the two dozen defendants in October. It was made public only after a judge unsealed the document in late November.

Since at least 2015, the indictment says, the defendants used H-2A visa applications to bring dozens of migrant workers into the U.S. as agricultural workers. The federal program requires that workers be paid a fair wage — often $10 to $12 an hour — and reimbursed for expenses involving travel to and from the U.S., food and lodging.

Instead, prosecutors said, the defendants kept most of the money the workers were owed. They laundered their profits by using cash to buy land, homes and more than a dozen vehicles, as well as purchasing a restaurant and nightclub. Millions got laundered through casinos, according to the indictment.

Estes credited more than 200 law enforcement officers and federal agents with working on the case, which focused on rural Atkinson, Bacon, Coffee, Tattnall, Toombs and Ware counties.

This article appears on Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News.

Hazel Wooten Poole

By
Now Habersham
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Hazel Wooten Poole, age 95 of Clarkesville, Georgia took her Heavenly flight home to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 12, 2021.

Born in Clarkesville, Georgia on May 21, 1926, she was a daughter of the late Hiram Walter & Lydia Smith Wooten. Hazel retired from the Habersham County School System with 27 years of dedicated service. In earlier years, she enjoyed traveling with her two sisters, eating out at various places, & going to auction houses. Most of all, Hazel loved her family dearly including her in-laws. She was affectionately known as “Memaw” to her grandchildren & great-grandchildren. Hazel also enjoyed cooking for her family, singing in the church choir, and spending time with her best friend, Ovaline Rice. She was a dedicated member of Union Hill Baptist Church and the last surviving member of her immediate family.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie B. Poole; son-in-law, Lamar Lovell; brothers, Raymond & Ted Wooten; sisters, Ovaline Wooten, Christine Wooten, Ruby McClain, Berma Jean Bennett, & Ruth Davis.

Survivors include her son & daughter-in-law, Walter & Sylvia Poole of Demorest, GA; daughters & son-in-law, Jean Lovell; Judy & Donald Allen all of Clarkesville, GA; grandchildren, Lakeeta & Joel Tyre of Clarkesville, GA; Candace & Rob Blackburn of Alto, GA; Christopher & Jenny Allen of Charlotte, NC; Jason & Julie Poole of Demorest, GA; great-grandchildren, Mackenzie Appleton & fiancé, Ashley Canup, Seth & Kendra Blackburn, Gabe Blackburn, Loralei Poole, James Allen, & Lucy Grace Allen; a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, & friends.

Funeral services are scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 14, 2021, at Hillside Memorial Chapel with Rev. Connie Berry officiating. Interment will follow in the Hillside Gardens Cemetery.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 1:00 p.m. until the service hour on Tuesday.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in memory of Hazel W. Poole to Gideons International, c/o Habersham North Camp, P.O. Box 1855, Clarkesville, GA. 30523, Parkinson’s Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, FL. 33131 or to Hospice of Northeast Georgia Medical Center, 2150 Limestone Parkway, Suite 222, Gainesville, GA. 30501.

An online guest registry is available for the Poole family at www.HillsideMemorialChapel.com.

Arrangements by Hillside Memorial Chapel, Clarkesville, Georgia. (706) 754-6256.

Steven Alan Ward

By
Now Habersham
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Steven Alan Ward, age 44, of Clarkesville, Georgia, passed away on Saturday, December 11, 2021.

Mr. Ward was born on February 5, 1977, in Frankfurt, Germany. He was a member of Bethlehem Baptist Church. Mr. Ward was serving as a Clarkesville City Council Member for 4 years, and had been elected for his second term. Steven had worked with Pruitt Health Systems for 15 years.

Survivors include his mother, Barbara Ward, of Clarkesville; sister and brother-in-law, Nancy and Fletcher Holliday, of Demorest; niece and nephew, Hannah Holliday, of Orlando, FL; and Derek Holliday, of Demorest.

Funeral Services will be held at 3:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at the Whitfield Funeral Home, South Chapel.

The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at the funeral home prior to the service.

A Livestream Service will be available at facebook.com/whitfieldfh

Arrangements have been entrusted to the Whitfield Funeral Home, South Chapel at 1370 Industrial Boulevard, Baldwin, Georgia 30511. Telephone: 706-778-7123

Frances Louise Leckie

By
Now Habersham
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Frances Louise Leckie, age 91 went home to be with the Lord after a brief illness along with declining health issues on Sunday, December 12, 2021, surrounded by her family.

Louise was born May 5, 1930, to the late Charlie and Avie (Pittman) Southers of Gainesville, Ga.

She was a native of Hall County and grew up in the Gainesville Mill Village. The Mill village held a special place in her heart. The village neighbors were like family and tried to help and take care of one another to get through hard times. She was a member of Hopewell Baptist Church and she graduated from Lyman Hall High School. After high school, she worked at the Gainesville Cotton Mill for a short time and met the love of her life, Myron Leckie. They were married on October 5, 1952, and she became a homemaker and moved to Topeka, Kansas, for a brief time, where Myron was stationed in the Air Force, then they returned back to Hall County. During their marriage, Myron was called to preach the gospel and she faithfully served alongside her husband during his years of ministry. They were married for 49 years. Over the years, she was a dedicated caregiver for her mother, father-in-law, husband, and two of her sisters, during their sicknesses and declining health. Louise was a kind and caring person and had a compassion for the sick, elderly and shut-ins in their church families and community by visiting, or preparing meals while she was able to do so.

She loved her family and especially her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and was known to them as “Memaw”. She also loved the Christmas season by celebrating the birth of Christ and enjoyed decorating their home inside and out for Christmas, then her children carried on the tradition for her to continue to enjoy. She is now having her best Christmas ever!

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Myron Leckie, brothers, Ernest Otto (Tobey) Southers, Junior Southers, Willard (Buck) Southers, brother & sister-in-law Carl and Lee Southers, sister & brother-in-law, Irene (Bibbie) and Barker Jones, sister Florrie Nell (Flossie) Southers all of Gainesville; and grandson Benjamin Nelson, Demorest. Ga.

She is survived by her 2 children; son & daughter-in-law, Tobey & Teresa Leckie, Gainesville, daughter & son-in-law, Tona & Jeff Nelson, Demorest; 2 granddaughters and their spouses, Anna (Nelson) & Greg Stotser, Columbus, Ga. and Lydia (Nelson) & Josh Frazier, Waynesville, NC; 4 great-grandchildren, Mabry, Audry & Rory Frazier, Waynesville, NC and Asher Stotser, Columbus, Ga. She is also survived by her sister & brother-in-law, Mildred (Millie) & David Harrison, Richardson, Texas and other nieces & nephews.

During her declining health, Louise was able the stay at home with the help of her family and special caregivers, Doris Allison, Janie Southers (niece), Mycki Little, Lisa Loggins and Rachel Tipton. The family would like to express their utmost gratitude and special thanks to these caregivers for their loyalty and loving care that made it possible for Louise to stay in the home she loved. The family would also like to thank the HCFD Station #9, Bell Minor Home staff and Seasons Hospice & Palliative Care staff for the compassionate care they provided.

Visitation will be Wednesday, December 15, 2021, at Wards Funeral Home, Gainesville from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Funeral services will be Thursday, December 16, 2021, at 2:00 pm at Wards Funeral Home Chapel, Gainesville with Rev. Gary Wilson & Rev. Josh Frazier officiating. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery, Gainesville.

The family respectfully requests that the CDC guidelines be followed. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105.

Please share online condolences with the family at www.wardsfh.com. Ward’s Funeral Home is honored to serve the family of Frances Louise Leckie.

GSP identifies driver killed in head-on collision in Franklin County

By
Staff Report
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One man is dead, another seriously injured after a head-on collision on GA 17 in Franklin County.

The Georgia State Patrol identifies the man killed in the crash as 68-year-old  James Leslie Caudell of Martin, GA.

The crash happened around 8 p.m. Saturday, December 11, near MC Marine. Troopers say Caudell was driving a 2012 Ford Escape south in the northbound inside lane of the highway when his vehicle struck a northbound pickup truck head-on. Caudell was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the Dodge Ram pickup, 25-year-old Hunter Bell of Bowersville, was transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. He is the son of Stephens County Commissioner Dennis Bell. Bell took to social media over the weekend to ask the community to “Please be praying hard for my son.”

Troopers with Georgia State Patrol Post 52 in Hartwell investigated the fatal crash. They have not released any other details.

Danny William Clark

By
Now Habersham
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Danny William Clark, age 72, of Clarkesville, passed away on Saturday, December 11, 2021.

Born on June 4, 1949, in Columbia, South Carolina, he was a son of the late Douglas Leonard and Collene Cain Clark. Mr. Clark lived most of his life in Hall County before moving to Clarkesville. He was an industrial mechanic with Ricoh Printers. Mr. Clark was a United States Marine Veteran having proudly served his country. He was of the Baptist faith and loved his family.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother, Larry David Clark.

Survivors include his brother and sister-in-law, Leonard and Tracy Clark of Clarkesville; sister, Alicia Suzanne Worack of Vero Beach, FL; nieces, Shannon Clark of Gainesville and Holly Kerns of Gainesville; special great-niece, Hannah Brown; and great-great-nephew, Lincoln Brown.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, December 16, 2021, in the Chapel of McGahee-Griffin & Stewart with Rev. John Umberhant officiating. Military honors will be provided.

The family will receive friends from 10:00 am until the service hour on Thursday at the funeral home.

Those in attendance are asked to please adhere to the public health and social distancing guidelines regarding COVID-19.

An online guest register is available and may be viewed at www.mcgaheegriffinandstewart.com.

McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home of Cornelia, Georgia (706/778-8668) is in charge of arrangements.

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