A convicted Augusta drug dealer accused of shooting a neighbor over a $100 drug debt took a deal Monday, April 18, to close the aggravated assault case and two drug cases in exchange for two years in prison.
The relatively short prison term was offset, however, by Michael J. Tanksley’s probation revocation. The prosecutor asked and Chief Judge Daniel J. Craig agreed to revoke the remainder of the probation sentence Tanksley’s received in 2018 – 11 years.
Craig also imposed a new 28-year probation term Tanksley will serve when he’s released from prison.
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Tanksley, 34, was to stand trial Monday in Richmond County Superior Court on charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Witnesses to the Nov. 18 shooting of Keyshawn Ramsey would not talk to the sheriff’s office, said Assistant District Attorney Jarryd Brown. He granted immunity to the victim and to Tanksley’s girlfriend to try to force them to testify.
Ramsey is also charged with aggravated assault for allegedly shooting back at Tanksley after he was shot, Brown said. Ramsey owed Tanksley $100 for drugs, Brown said.
Tanksley was charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana, both with the intent to distribute, for the drugs officers found on Tanksley when he was arrested after the Nov. 18 shooting. Tanksley was hospitalized and treated for his gunshot wound. He slipped out of the hospital before he could be moved to the jail, the prosecutor said. When arrested on Jan. 5, he had cocaine and pain pills on him. He pleaded guilty to both drug cases as well as the aggravated assault on Monday.
Tanksley has prior convictions for possession of marijuana in 2010 and again in 2012, and for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute and other charges in 2018. It was the 2018 case in which Tanksley was still on probation for 11 years. The judge revoked all of that time Monday.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
