All charges against five people indicted in a massive 2017 gang and racketeering case that sought to target members of the Loyalty Over Everything gang were dismissed Tuesday, and two other people pleaded guilty to reduced charges.
The 2017 indictment against 17 people was the first large gang indictment returned in the Augusta Judicial Circuit. According to the indictment, LOE started out as the Shirley Avenue Boys, but the name changed over a decade ago as the organization expanded with members outside of the Shirley Avenue area.
The indictment accused the defendants of working together in a criminal enterprise that include thefts and drug dealing and acts of violence, including murder.
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But several of the 17 defendants were only accused of being in the fringe area of activity, said Brian Patterson, the Athens attorney who accepted the appointment as prosecutor in the case. District Attorney Jared Williams recused his office from the LOE gang case when he took office in 2021.
Tuesday, Oct. 18, charges were dropped against Danielle Burton, Valencia Eunice, Sheila Hill, Teangel McFadden and Kelvin Labord.
Labord was one of several alleged LOE members held without bond after the 53-count indictment was returned in January 2017. He was granted bond in 2019 and since then has been indicted in two additional cases, including a drug and guns cases that involved other alleged LOE members. One of those others was Henri Beach who is accused of taking part in the Dogwood Terrace drive-by shooting that lead to death of 8-year-old Arbrie Anthony on Jan. 8.
The prosecutor said Tuesday in Richmond County Superior Court that he believed there were five or six core actors in the case.
The charges against two of those core actors were reduced Tuesday because, Patterson said, that is all that the evidence in the case would support against Kevin Hanna, 35, and Charles B. Gillians III, 32. Each entered an Alford plea in exchange for a 20-year probation sentence with credit for the six and a half years they have been jailed awaiting trial.
Hanna faced not only gang and racketeering charges but murder and robbery. He was accused of taking part in the Feb. 8, 2014, fatal shooting of Gerald Clifford, 28, and in a Feb. 7, 2014, robbery. The only evidence implicating Hanna in the Clifford killing was a recanted statement of a codefendant and a statement by another witness whose account was inconsistent with an eyewitness, Patterson said. In the robbery case, the alleged victim recanted.
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Hanna pleaded to two gang charges for a fight with an alleged rival gang member in jail. Gillians plead guilty to charges related to an Aug. 6, 2016, encounter with Richmond County Sheriff officers who found drugs and handguns near him.
Hanna faces three new indictments for crimes he is accused of committing in jail – a conspiracy case in which he allegedly participated in the bribery of a jailer to bring contraband into the jail, possession of marijuana and other prohibited items, and possession of a razor blade and synthetic cannabinoid.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.Â
