SUPERIOR COURT
Five more defendants recently entered guilty pleas in a 2021 Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case that began with 103 defendants.
The number of unresolved defendants in the case are down to a dozen as of the Jan. 3 plea day in Jones County Superior Court.
Two named as drug suppliers when the indictments of the defendants were announced at an April 7, 2021, press conference – Jerric Dywan Williams and Jason Montoya Reynolds – entered pleas Jan. 3. However, the case of the man further up the supply chain and thought to have supplied Williams, Hanad Sayid Abdulrahman, remains unresolved. The defense attorney representing Abdulrahman in the RICO case has withdrawn, and he is currently housed by the Georgia Department of Corrections for other charges.
Williams was sentenced to 20 years for violation of RICO Act with the first 10 years served in confinement. He received credit for the time he has served from Nov. 23, 2020, and the remainder of his sentence may be served on probation.
Reynolds also received 20 years for violation of RICO Act with the first 10 years served in confinement and the remainder of his sentence to be served on probation. Reynolds received credit for time he has served from his Jan. 26, 2021, arrest.
The other RICO defendants who plead Jan. 3 were James Dewey Jones Jr., Derix Marquis Hinton and Tepeeka Loraine Thompson.
Jones was sentenced to 10 years for violation of RICO act with the first three years to be served in confinement and the remainder to be served on probation.
Hinton was sentenced to four years each for three counts of the lesser- included offense of use of telecommunications device. The counts are to run consecutively for a total of 12 years with the first five years to be served in confinement and the remainder to be served on probation. Hinton received credit for time served from Oct. 26, 2020.
Thompson was sentenced to three years for the lesser included offense of use of a telecommunication device. Her sentence may be served on probation.
The severity of the sentences directly coincides with the involvement and cooperation of the defendants.
Jones County Sheriff Butch Reece was surrounded at the 2021 press conference by officers from 13 law enforcement agencies that helped Jones County in the investigation of the case.
The sheriff said the investigation was named Operation Lone Ranger in memory of Capt. Jimmy Black, who died Dec. 25, 2020, following a battle with cancer. Black spent 42 years in law enforcement with his last 28 years as an investigator with the JCSO drug unit.
Reece said the investigation started in Jones County but reached to Atlanta. The sheriff said the case would be prosecuted by John Ragan with the Georgia Prosecuting Attorney Council.
JCSO Investigator Crystal Murphy said the investigation into the sale and distribution of heroin and methamphetamine began in June of 2019 with the identification of a supplier in Jones and surrounding counties, Willie Michael Wood, who was a resident of Jones County.
Wood Jr. entered his plea Dec. 8, 2022, and received a prison sentence of 20 years to serve for the offense. He received credit for time served from his arrest Jan. 26, 2021.
Seizures during the RICO investigation included four kilograms of methamphetamine, four kilograms of cocaine, two kilograms of heroin and quantities of assorted other prescription medications and marijuana.
In addition to the drugs, 14 firearms and over $110,000 in U.S. Currency was also seized. The drugs, firearms and cash covered three tables and were on display during the press conference.
