A six-year-old racketeering and gang case in Augusta has a new prosecutor. Finally.
After being turned down by nine different prosecutors whom he asked to assume the prosecution of the 2017 case, Georgia Attorney Christopher Carr got a “yes” when he asked former Athens area prosecutor Brian Patterson to take over the case.
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The massive case handed down by the grand jury under previous district attorney had to be reassigned when District Attorney Jared Williams had to recuse himself and his office because he worked for the defense one of the 17 defendants before assuming office in January 2021.
In a letter written March 11 that was shared with The Augusta Press, Carr confirmed Patterson will be a specially assigned prosecutor for the case, which is scheduled for another status conference April 21.
Of the 17 people originally named in the indictment, 11 have pleaded not guilty and have been waiting for their day in court since January 2017.
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The Richmond County case is assigned to Superior Court Judge Jesse Stone. He inherited the case when he was appointed to the bench in February 2021. In January of this year, he ruled Carr had 60 days to get a prosecutor assigned to the case or he would consider dismissing charges.
The 54-count indictment accused 17 people of taking part in various crimes, including murder, as part of the Loyalty Over Everything gang. Sheriff’ investigators believe the gang started in the 1980s as the Shirley Avenue Boys.
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Besides the logistically difficulty in getting a case with so many defendants prepared for trial, delay has also been due to the sheriff’s investigation that stretched for over a year after the indictment was returned, the sudden retirement of the assigned judge and yearlong delay for the governor to appoint his replacement, the pandemic which shut down all jury trials in Georgia for nearly a year, and the past year in which the attorney general was unable to find anyone willing to take over the prosecution.
Patterson was an assistant prosecutor for the Western Judicial Circuit for 17 years. He served as chief assistant for several years and then ran for the district attorney for Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties in 2020. He lost the election to Deborah Gonzalez. He is now in private practice.
The long delay in the case has particularly frustrated the five defendants who have been jailed since their arrests.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
