The four people accused of taking part in the activities of the Ghost Face Gangsters and who were named in a massive Richmond County indictment last summer have already separated themselves from that life, they said Friday, Sept. 22, when they pleaded guilty.
One, Clifford Wilson, 45, has been a leader in the gang which started in Georgia prisons and has now spread to other states, according to law enforcement officers who worked on the three-year investigation that led to the massive indictment returned against 77 people. Wilson, who had spent most of his adult life in prison, plead guilty to Violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
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Prosecutor John Regan said Friday in Richmond County Superior Court that Wilson was a leader in Ghost Face Gangsters when he wrote a threatening letter to a Department of Correction officers July 20, 2020. Since then, he has become the target of his own gang who want to kill him, Regan said. Defense attorney Robert Homlar said Wilson had become frustrated over being kept in isolation in the prison. He is done with the gang and has started having tattoos professionally removed.
Judge John Flythe accepted the negotiated sentence of nine years in prison with an additional 11 years on probation. It will run concurrently with the prison term is already serving.
James Devoti, 38, also plead guilty Friday to acts that occurred in 2018-2019 when he sent Facebook messages about dealing drugs. That was rock bottom for Devoti, and he decided to change his life, attorney Alexia Davis Payne said.
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He moved to Atlanta, got into rehab and stayed with the program, got a job and started a relationship with a woman he intends to marry. His split sentence — he is currently serving prison time for a probation violation based on the gang charges — means after another five months at most he will return to probation for six and a half years.
Jessica Martin, 35, and Kyla Deangelo, 35, have also both changed their lives and gotten sober. They each received probation terms of 10 years and four years, respectively, for minor roles in participating in drug deals.
Thirteen of the 77 defendants named in the indictment have now pleaded guilty.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
