Cobb District Attorney’s Office

Cobb events scheduled for Crime Victims’ Rights Week

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Submitted information:Crime Victims' Rights Week

Cobb Acting District Attorney John Melvin announces that the DA’s Office is partnering with various groups to mark Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 7-12. In addition, the Georgia Office of Victim Services will host a Victims Visitors’ Day in Augusta later in the month.

“Victims suffer emotionally, physically, and financially from the criminal acts committed against them. As a community and as service providers, we have an obligation to recognize the impact of crime on victims and to provide resources and assistance to help victims heal,” said Kim McCoy, Director of the Victim Witness Assistance Unit in the Cobb DA’s Office. “These events reinforce the theme of this year’s week of recognition in that we honor our past through events of remembrance and celebrate hope for the future in gathering items needed for service delivery programs.”

Local Crime Victims’ Rights Week events will begin April 7 with a Homicide Memorial Service, sponsored by the Crime Victims Advocacy Council. The service will be from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 7 at Vinings United Methodist Church, 3101 Paces Mill Rd., Atlanta.

The Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council will host a ceremony on April 8 to mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. The ceremony, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., will be held at the Forsyth County Administration Building, 110 East Main St., in Cumming.

On April 9, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will present a proclamation to mark Cobb County Crime Victims’ Rights Week during the Commission’s 9 a.m. meeting at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta.

The Cobb DA’s Office will host a “stock the shelves” party at 2 p.m. on April 12 to support liveSAFE Resources and SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center. Both organizations directly support crime victims in their immediate time of need. Requested items include mini water bottles, juice boxes, variety snack packs, tissues, and toilet paper. Bring an item and receive an ice cream cone!

On April 24, crime victims or their family members can discuss their offender’s case confidentially with representatives of the Department of Corrections, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, and the Department of Community Supervision during Victims Visitors’ Day. The event will be held at Augusta Technical College, and appointments are available between 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. To schedule an appointment, contact Darrell Reid at 404-651-6544 or darrell.reid@pap.ga.gov before April 23.

 

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Windy Hill Road motel sued in sex trafficking case by Cobb DA’s office

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The Masters Inn, Windy Hill Road motel sued
Source: OpenStreetMap

Cobb District Attorney Vic Reynolds said Friday his office has filed a lawsuit to force a Windy Hill Road motel to address sex trafficking and drug activity on its premises or be subject to forfeiting its property.

A release by the DA’s office said the “public nuisance” measure was being applied to The Masters Inn, 2682 Windy Hill Road, located near the Windy Hill Hospital, the junction of Interstate 75 and SunTrust Park.

UPDATED, Wed., Jan. 9, 11:55 a.m.: The AJC is reporting the motel has closed temporarily for renovations, and that the owner has reached an agreement with the DA’s office to address the crime issues.

ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES:

Authorities say the motel has been a haven for drug and sex trafficking and was the scene of a deadly shooting in 2015. In late 2017 Cobb Police arrested a man there on felony drug charges and discovered he had been holding a female against her well and using her for sex trafficking, according to the release.

The DA’s office said it was approached earlier last year by a lawyers’ group, Civil Lawyers Against World Sex Slavery, and along with Cobb Police compiled data on hotels in the county with high levels of arrests, especially for drugs, prostitution and trafficking.

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According to the lawsuit, filed in Cobb Superior Court, The Masters Inn was known to police as “notorious hotbed of criminal activity that has been the subject of countless investigations.”

The release said The Masters Inn ownership must take the following steps:

  • contact and cooperate with police about suspected criminal activity;
  • require valid photo identification of all guests;
  • maintain complete guest rosters and a list of those previously arrested there;
  • require staff training to recognize and prevent human trafficking;
  • hire a licensed and armed security guard;
  • install outdoor lighting, video surveillance and fencing;
  • ban loitering.

According to the release, the first of several compliance hearings will be held before Cobb Superior Court Judge Kimberly Childs on March 14.

The DA’s office said the suit is believed to be one of the first in Georgia aimed at curbing sex trafficking activity.

The announcement of the lawsuit comes at the end of a week of public events in the state about sex trafficking. Georgia is regarded as one of the busiest states in the nation for sex trafficking, and January is National Sex Trafficking Awareness Month.

Earlier this week, dozens of school buses formed a caravan to reflect the estimated 3,600 children authorities say are used for sex trafficking in Georgia.

Among those taking part were Attorney General Chris Carr and Governor-elect Brian Kemp. The faith-based group Street Grace also has been leading the charge.

The upcoming session of the Georgia General Assembly is expected to include sex trafficking legislation, and efforts are underway to crack down on sex trafficking ahead of the Super Bowl, which takes place in Atlanta in early February.

 

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Former Cobb Medical Examiner sentenced in county drug case

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A few weeks after he was sentenced to federal prison for exchanging opioid prescriptions for sexual favors, the former Cobb Medical Examiner has been sentenced on drug-related charges in Cobb County.Former Cobb medical examiner sentenced

Joe Burton, 73, was sentenced to eight years in prison on Wednesday by Cobb Chief Magistrate Court Judge Joyette Holmes. In July, he pleaded guilty to several counts of racketeering, fraud in obtaining controlled substances, and violations of Georgia’s controlled substances act.

“No one is above the law,” Cobb assistant district attorney Jason Saliba said in a statement. “We prosecute anyone who distributes narcotics in Cobb County.”

Burton was given an eight-year federal prison sentence on Aug. 29. According to the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, Burton will serve his sentences concurrently.

The Cobb medical examiner from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, Burton pleaded guilty in federal court in May to being part of a conspiracy to illegally distribute opioid painkillers in exchange for sexual favors.

He was one of several people indicted in February by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta. According to his federal indictment, Burton issued more than 1,100 opioid prescriptions over a two-year period beginning in July 2015, amounting to more than 108,000 individual doses, including over 66,000 oxycodone pills.

Federal prosecutors said Burton prescribed opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone without conducting a medical examination of patients or even meeting with them at all.

The street value of the oxycodone pills alone, prosecutors estimated, was more than $2 million.

Three female co-defendants in the federal case had sex with Burton in exchange for receiving the drugs for themselves and for others, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 

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Man who robbed sailor and left him naked near Bells Ferry Road gets 25-year sentence

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An Atlanta man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for robbing a Navy sailor after an evening at a Marietta nightclub two years ago, pistol-whipping him and leaving him naked near Bells Ferry Road.Cortlyn Javon Martin, man who robbed sailor in Cobb

Cortlyn Javon Martin, 26, was convicted by a Cobb jury in June of armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony.

On Thursday, he was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Lark Ingram.

Martin was a patron at the Club Rio, near the South Marietta Parkway and Franklin Gateway, on June 18, 2016, when he left the club with the sailor and other men by car, according to the Cobb District Attorney’s office.

The sailor was driving when Martin, sitting in the back seat, began pistol-whipping him, the DA’s office said, adding that Martin robbed the driver after forcing him to withdraw $500 from a bank ATM in Kennesaw.

The DA’s office said Martin then forced the victim to strip naked, and left him near Bells Ferry Road.

Martin, who was arrested two months after the incident, will be credited for the two years he has been in custody, according to the DA’s office.

“This defendant preyed upon an active-duty military member who was visiting Georgia for the first time on military leave,” assistant Cobb district attorney Kaitlin Southmayd said in a statement. “We are thankful for our victim’s service to his country and his willingness to tell his terrifying account to the jury.”

 

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Two men sentenced in Northeast Cobb drug trafficking case

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Two Cobb County men arrested last spring in a Northeast Cobb drug trafficking case that also included major weapons charges have been sentenced to prison.

Kyle Nixon, 26, was given an eight-year sentence, followed by five years of supervised release. Eric Gamez, 27, was sentenced to nine years and five months, with five years of supervised release.

The sentences were announced Monday by the Cobb District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta. Northeast Cobb drug trafficking case, Kyle Nixon, Eric Gamez

Nixon and Gamez were arrested April 6, 2016 following a joint investigation by the Marietta/Cobb/Smyrna Organized Crime Unit and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

A search warrant was executed at Nixon’s residence on Sanford Drive in Northeast Cobb, where authorities found 400 grams of cocaine and more 300 grams of heroin, which authorities believe they intended to sell.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, more than $13,000 in cash and 19 firearms, including an AK-47 rifle, also were discovered at the home.

The men tried to flee the residence, but were taken into custody at the scene, according to police. Nixon pleaded guilty in April 2017 and was sentenced in July. Gamez pleaded guilty in February and his sentence was handed down Sept. 14, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“These defendants were distributing cocaine and heroin while protecting their drug business with an arsenal of firearms,” Atlanta U. S. Attorney John Horn said in a statement. “Their actions disregarded the safety of our community, but swift action by law enforcement kept them from causing further harm.”