Daniel Cates, the Waynesboro tire company owner on probation for illegal gambling, was indicted this month for illegal possession of a machine gun and a gun with a silencer.
Cates, 50, was serving three years’ probation for charges related to a decades-old illegal sports betting operation when his home and business were raided by federal law enforcement in May.
He and numerous other metro Augusta men were indicted or sentenced this month in U.S. District Court for the Southern District. U.S. Attorney Jill E. Steinberg announced the charges and sentences Monday.
“As illegally possessed firearms proliferate in our community, our office continues to hold accountable those who threaten the safety of our neighborhoods,” Steinberg said.
Project Safe Neighborhoods in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies has led to the arrests and sentencing of hundreds of men across the CSRA and the Southern Judicial District of Georgia in recent years.
Also indicted or sentenced this month include:
- Ray Charles Canady III, 51, of Augusta, charged with robbery and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime and by a felon.
- Scottie Eugene Bryant, 48, of Grovetown, charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
- Daveon Daniels, 25, of Grovetown, sentenced to 46 months in prison and fined $1,500 after a guilty plea to possessing a machine gun. Columbia County sheriff’s deputies were investigating the homicide of Daniels’ four-year-old daughter when they found the gun equipped with a “Glock switch” to convert it to fully automatic.
Nine defendants were sentenced to prison or await sentencing in USA v. Walters et al for their roles in an Augusta-area drug trafficking conspiracy. They are:
- Phillip Smith, 49, of Augusta, sentenced to 156 months for conspiracy to possess and conspiracy with intent to distribute meth and possession of a firearm by a felon.
- Brian Hilliard, 40, of Augusta, sentenced to 108 months for conspiracy to possess and conspiracy with intent to distribute meth and possession of a firearm by a felon.
- Glen Taylor, 45, of Beech Island, 37 months for conspiracy to possess and conspiracy with intent to distribute meth.
- Joshua Wasden, 36, of Thomson 120 months for conspiracy to possess and conspiracy with intent to distribute meth.
- Co-defendants Edward Jake Walters, 29, Dustin Bayles, 36, Linda Campbell, 53, Gary Holcomb, 59 and Destiny Poole, 23, await sentencing after pleading guilty to the drug conspiracy charge.
A DEA investigation with the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office assisted by the Georgia State Patrol led to prison sentences for these two Jacksonville, Fla., men:
- Unique Haynes, 26, 120 months after a guilty plea to conspiracy with intent to distribute and to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl.
- Eric Massey, 48 months after a plea to illegal use of a communications facility.
Also indicted or sentenced this month include:
- Thomas J. Fazio II, 41, of Grovetown, sentenced to five years probation for possession of an unlicensed silencer. Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection investigated unlicensed firearm silencers being shipped to the U.S. Army staff sergeant when they found an unregistered silencer.
- Michael Jerome Germany, 50, of Grovetown, sentenced to 37 months for possession of a gun by a convicted felon.
- Zanuck Lorenzo Berry, 43, of Martinez, was sentenced to 87 months after a guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon. Executing a search, Drug Enforcement Administration agents found an assault rifle, two semiautomatic “ghost gun” pistols, a third handgun and a shotgun.
Awaiting sentencing after entering guilty pleas to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon include Augusta men Andrey Deloris Blockett, 37; Anthony Orlando Jones, 34; Eddie Lee Tolbert, 39; and Deleon Alexander Jackson, 23, as well as Richard Bruce Salyer Jr., 49, of Forsyth.
