Sprawling Indictment Targets Two Smuggling Networks Run by Georgia Prisoners
Two federal indictments unsealed on August 21, 2024, charged 23 current and former Georgia prisoners and their accomplices in a conspiracy using drones to distribute methamphetamine, marijuana and cellphones at two lockups in the southeastern part of the state. Defendants were charged with conspiring to possess drugs with intent to distribute, utilizing unlawful communication facilities and using drones to breach prison security.
The charges resulted from Operation Night Drop, a multi-agency investigation including the state Department of Corrections (DOC) that targeted two conspiracies to smuggle contraband into Smith State Prison and Telfair State Prison beginning in 2019 until July 2024. Among items confiscated during the investigation were 10 drones and 21 firearms.
The indictments detail extensive communications to coordinate the delivery of contraband between Defendants, including text messages and Facebook Messenger exchanges from contraband cellphones The communications often included images of prisons, drugs, drones and other materials, revealing the level of sophistication of the smuggling operations.
The 15 defendants in the first indictment included alleged ringleader Alan “Strong” (or “Krook”) Hall, 44, who is currently incarcerated at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison (DCP) along with fellow defendant Deivon “Hitman” Waller, 33. Waller was previously housed with Nathan Weekes, another state prisoner accused of plotting a murder-for-hire scheme that led to the death of a guard’s neighbor and the arrest of former Smith State Prison Warden Brian Adams in 2023, as PLN reported. [See: PLN, July 2023, p.11.]
Other codefendants with Hall and Waller included fellow DCP prisoner Asa “Foolay” Ward, 28; Martin “The Mayor” Holmes, 33, who is currently held at Macon State Prison; and Raymond “Flako” Razo, 36, currently at Telfair State Prison. Each was charged with distributing drugs and contraband in DOC. Holmes is also linked to the murder of former Smith State Prison guard Jessica Gerling—Weekes’ former girlfriend, whom he sent Sumlin Jones to kill when the hitman botched the job and murdered Gerling’s neighbor, Bobby Kicklighter.
Also named in the indictment were former DOC prisoners Travious “Nut” Bateman, 39; Devonn “Vonn” Collins, 28; Torlandus “Mustafa$upa” Fuller, 33; Marquez Chandler, 25; Jamar Hill, 37; and Donald Pate, 51. Four non-incarcerated codefendants were named, too: Anisha Usher, 38, of Covington; Chad Henry, 26, of Conyers; Raane Onessimo, 29, of Powder Springs; and Katrina Hampton, 28, of Killeen, Texas. See: United States v. Hall, USDC (S.D. Ga.), Case No. 6:24-cr-00009.
The second indictment added eight more defendants, including Robert “Messiah” (or “Dean”) Harris, 32, who is currently held at Macon State Prison; Kelvin “Gangsta” Rogers, 38, currently at Smith State Prison; and Thomas “Shoota” (or “Tee”) Cothran, 37, currently at Ware State Prison; and Tristahn “Mohawk” Ash, 27, who is currently incarcerated at Metro Reentry Facility in Atlanta. They face similar conspiracy charges related to the drone-assisted smuggling, along with a pair of former DOC prisoners, Quinton “JR” Samples, 29, and his brother, Quintaveous “Pee Wee” Samples, 26. Their non-incarcerated sister, Quinesha Oliver, 27, was also indicted; in August 2020, she allegedly received a text from Cothran that read in part, “U get that drone and go praxtixe wit it bae, and learn the layout of dis mf.”
The last defendant, David Williams, 35, was not charged in the conspiracy but rather with Ash with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking crime. See: United States v. Harris, USDC (S.D. Ga.), Case No.6:24-cr-00010.
Smith State Prison has been plagued by corruption and violence as DOC has failed to secure the lockup. Numerous prisoner assaults have been recorded, along with two staff murders, in addition to non-incarcerated victims, like Kicklighter. Many of those named in the indictments were until recently held near one another—apparently fostering their alleged conspiracy.
Additional source: Georgia Virtue