The second defendant in a case that included kidnapping and aggravated assault entered a guilty plea last week and will be spending the next decade in prison.
Joshua Ballard was in Jones County Superior Court Sept. 19 and received a sentence of 10 years for the offense of aggravated assault with credit for time served in custody from Jan. 2, 2024.
He was sentenced as a recidivist, which means he is required to serve every day of the sentence.
Ballard was indicted for the offenses of kidnapping and aggravated assault with codefendant Aaron Goolsby Feb. 6, 2023. Goolsby entered a guilty plea Oct. 12, 2023, and received a sentence of 20 years with the first 15 years served in confinement. The remainder of his sentence is to be served on probation, and he was given credit for time served since his Nov. 3, 2022, arrest.
As part of plea negotiations with the state, the kidnapping charges were dismissed.
Assistant District Attorney Cara Fiore represented the state in the Sept. 19 plea, and defense attorney Ashley Cooper represented Ballard.
Fiore presented the past felony convictions of Ballard that occurred in Marion County, Oregon, for crimes of attempted robbery, burglary and robbery in support of the state’s request for Ballard to be sentenced as a recidivist.
Chief Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell accepted the plea.
The victim of the crime was present during the plea proceeding but did not wish to address the court.
Case facts
According to a story in The Jones County News, the crime for which Ballard and Goolsby were charged was reported to Jones County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. David Little Nov. 4, 2022. In his incident report, Little said he met with the complainant on Joycliff Road, and the complainant was also interviewed at the sheriff’s office.
In a Feb. 16, 2023, interview, JCSO Investigator John Simmons said the victim is from Atlanta, and he encountered Ballard and Goolsby Nov. 3, 2022 in Macon. The investigator said the suspects were having a problem with their vehicle, and the victim offered to help.
After he got the car running, Ballard and Goolsby invited the victim to Jones County where they hung out at a mobile home park on Joycliff Road. Simmons said, when the victim decided to go home, he gave the suspects his name and phone number and gave a female who was at the residence a ride home.
The investigator said when he dropped her off, the female gave the victim an extra phone so she could get in touch with him.
Simmons said the suspects called the complainant the next day. The suspects told him the car was not running again and asked him to come and give them a ride. The investigator said the victim told him that, when he arrived at the mobile home park, he was hit in the head with a pistol and held at gunpoint.
Simmons said the victim told him he jumped out the window and tried to escape, but they caught him. The victim said he had no idea why he was being held until they started asking him about a bookbag. It appeared that the female had taken the bookbag, and when the suspects figured that out, the victim was allowed to leave.
The investigator estimated that the complainant had been held by the suspects for at least 12 hours. The victim called the JCSO and met with Little, who later took him to the mobile home park in an attempt to identify the suspects.
The victim was able to give a description of the suspects but was unsure of first names. Simmons said Little was able to find the female who had given the victim the phone. He said she provided more information about the offenders.
The investigator said, using that information, he was able to put together a photo array of possible suspects, and the victim picked out Goolsby as one of the offenders.
Ballard was arrested Nov. 18, 2022, in Bibb County for firearms and drug charges and parole violations. Goolsby was arrested in Jones County Jan. 4, 2023. Both were charged with aggravated assault and kidnapping.
