String of thefts has authorities investigating
News October 25, 2021
GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – The Sheriff’s Office is asking citizens to be diligent this week as October has seen a string of thefts involving specific equipment.
According to a recent post by the Sheriff’s Office, October has seen “several thefts” that have been some type of heavy equipment including tractors and trailers. One citizen noted her husband’s work truck was recently stolen, the work truck including a dumping bed. Additionally two excavator buckets were also stolen.
The Sheriff’s Office has not specified any specific details on any thefts, but has noted that the heavy equipment connection. They also asked citizens to take specific note of their equipment just in case something happens.
They stated, “If you own equipment, please keep note of the brand, model, serial/VIN # and any distinctive identifying markings.”
Citizens should also take extra precautions at this time with any equipment like this. Securing vehicles, tractors, trailers, and even potentially bobcats and attachments for anything like this.
The Sheriff’s Office has not disclosed what possible connections these thefts could have either with each other or any possible connections with any other illegal activities within the county.
Citizens have already started conversations and sharing information and looking for ways to aid neighbors. In addition, the Sheriff’s Office has asked that any citizens you may have any information about stolen equipment, “Please call Detective Henson or Detective Sippel in the Criminal Investigations Division at 706-635-4646 or 706-635-8911 after normal business hours. If you see any suspicious activity, call 911 immediately.”
Sheriff highlights quarter of a million dollars in illegal drugs siezed
News July 29, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Recent highlights have shown major steps in our county by the Sheriff’s Office and cooperating agencies and agents with cases like the recent arrest of a wanted member of the Ghost Face gang to arrests made after Gilmer Deputies uncovered the murder of a woman in Cherry Log.
Today, the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Stacy Nicholson released information pertaining towards the seizure of illegal drugs, guns, and operations in the county. Totaling a quarter of a million dollars, this number is only made more alarming to know that it is only the total amount captured in the first half of 2021.
Sheriff’s deputies and agents of the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Operation have reported the majority of captures as Methamphetamines, a drug that has been a problem for Gilmer County for years. Along with the information, they listed many of their seizures and the dates of occurrence:
Jan. 7 – 3.5 gr Meth
Jan. 13 – 3.5 gr Meth
Feb. 21 – 6.8 gr Meth
Feb. 24 – 22 gr Meth
Feb. 24 – 1 oz. Marijuana
Mar. 1 – Meth
Mar 11 – 10 gr Heroin
Mar. 17 – 8 gr Heroin, Meth, Ecstacy
Mar. 23 – 32 gr Meth, 31 gr Marijuana, 25 Schedule IV pills, $1,800 Cash
Mar. 30 – Dismantled “chop shop” operation
Apr. 1 – 1 gr Meth, 30 oz. Marijuana
Apr. 17 – 3.5 gr Meth, 28 Schedule IV pills
May 20 – 14 gr Heroin 4 gr Meth, firearms, 4 gr Meth, 20 THC vapes
May 28 – 40 Ecstasy pills
May 29 – 7 gr Heroin
June 3 – 8 Ecstasy pills, Firearms
June 8 – 3 oz. Meth, 1 oz. Heroin (along with West Metro/Fulton Co.)
June 11 – 167.1 gr Meth, 94.2 gr Heroin (along with GSP/Fannin Co.)
June 12 – 3.5 gr Meth, 5 gr Heroin
June 21 – 3.5 gr Meth
June 28 – 1 kilo Meth, 3 gr Heroin
July 7 – 1 lb. Marijuana, 1 kilo Meth
July 16 – 1.38 lb Meth, 6 gr Heroin
According to the Sheriff, this is not an exhaustive list. During their release “from the desk of the Sheriff,” Nicholson states, “This post highlights some of the more significant drug cases that GCSO Detectives, Crime Suppression Unit (CSU), K9 Deputies and Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement (ARDEO) Agents have made for the first half of 2021. This doesn’t include all cases made, however it does highlight the more significant ones.”
Another point to think about is that this is the amount they seized, continuing operations still have more and more drugs circulating through the streets.
During these operations alone, 33 people have been arrested. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, a study in 2018 showed 67,367 deaths by overdose in Georgia alone. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, 2020, a year with most people at home in isolation and quarantine, Gilmer County alone saw 534 Emergency Department visits over the year related to Drug Overdose specifically. That number is only those who made it to the Emergency Room to be treated.
Many others offer alternative stories. Stories like a boy who overdosed on his own couch, and rather than call 911 to get help, his friend leaves him to die so he doesn’t get caught with the drugs.
Rodriguez arrested in Delgado murder, extradition could mean trial in Georgia
News July 4, 2021CHERRY LOG, Ga. – Joint releases continue from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) as another arrest has been made for involvement with April 2021 murder of Rossana Delgado, this time for Juan Ayala-Rodriguez.
Reaching all the way back to the original warrants for their alleged involvement, the GBI, working in partnership with the United States Marshal’s Service (USMS) Atlanta and San Diego, coordinated the transfer to U.S. custody of Juan Ayala-Rodriguez, age 35, after his arrest in Mexico.
Rossana Delgado was discovered in April of 2021 in Cherry Log where she was allegedly murdered.
On April 24, 2021, FYN reported Rodriquez, of Gainesville, Georgia, along with three other suspects, as wanted in connection to the murder. Later, in May 2021, reports came of the arrest of two of those original four alongside a fifth suspect. Now, Rodriquez is the third of the original four arrested.
According to the GBI, “Rodriguez was arrested in Durango, Mexico on Saturday, June 26, 2021. The USMS-San Diego and Customs and Border Protection oversaw the transfer of Rodriguez to USMS custody and subsequent detention at a California facility. Rodriguez is pending extradition to Georgia to face murder charges.”
No specific information is available on which court Rodriguez may face the charges in. Delgado was last seen in Doraville, Georgia on April 17, 2021. Her husband and authorities tracked her phone as a possible location of Delgado to Covington Highway, which is more on the southeastern side of Atlanta. Eventually, her body was found in a residence in Cherry Log, Georgia, in Northeast Gilmer County.
The GBI stated, “USMS and the United States Department of Homeland Security (HSI) have worked diligently to assist the GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office in this case and in this arrest. The GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office are very grateful for the support and efforts of the USMS, HSI and all agencies involved in effecting this arrest.”
The GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office continue to actively investigate this case and the individuals involved in the murder of Rossana Delgado. With three of the four original warrants executed and in custody, the fifth suspect arrested and in custody, the GBI asserted that a coordinated effort to locate and arrest the other three murder suspects, Mario Alberto Barbosa-Juarez, Carolina Jazmin Rodriguez-Ramirez and Maria Chavez is active and ongoing.
As always, the GBI requests that anyone with information to please contact the GBI. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
Sheriff’s Office takes Dillon Andrew Godfrey into custody
News June 14, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – An official statement from the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that Dillon Andrew Godfrey has been taken into custody over the weekend.
Godfrey, 28, fled from authorities in the area of Gunstock Creek Road according to the Sheriff’s Office. Now captured, he faces charges including Aggravated Child Molestation, 2 counts of Child Molestation, Cruelty to Children, Probation Violation, 3 counts of Obstruction.
The office thanked citizens for tips and help in spreading information, but did not comment on exactly how he was taken into custody. They have been seeking Godfrey’s whereabouts since Monday, June 7, 2021, and asking for information and help in locating him. Several comments on their Social Media post mentioned possible location, but the Sheriff’s Office also encouraged people to call in at the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigation Division.
FYN will follow the arrest as more details become available.
County backs off from creating Board of Elections
News February 12, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Once again returning to conversations of an election board in Gilmer County, the Board of Commissioners is putting the agenda item to create a board on hold.
According to Commission Chairman Charlie Paris, the BOC will not host the agenda item on every meeting as previously planned. The decision came among the board’s agreement after Paris reported that he thought it best to seek an alternative path due to his investigations and considerations of the board’s make-up.
Paris said, “When I got to looking around some at Elections Boards, what I found is that yeah almost all counties have them, but a lot of counties are having a lot of problems with them.”
Paris noted Fulton County specifically whose election board is denying legal requests for documents. He also noted reported problems in Fannin County where board members won’t speak to each other.
Paris said, “I don’t believe the two parties can hold civil conversation between themselves nowadays.” Though he noted that he previously believed Gilmer might be one of the few places it could occur, he no longer felt that way.
Acknowledging that elections have grown, Paris said he understood that elections are so minutely watched and that the work is substantially larger than it used to be.
The discussion continued with Post Commissioner Hubert Parker saying he agreed with not moving forward on an election board until the alternative has been studied.
Gilmer County Probate Judge Scott Chastain
That alternative that the Board of Commissioners agreed to pursue and the Probate Judge Scott Chastain is currently looking into, involves reconfiguring the Probate Office to possibly include some extra staff to “offload” some of that work.
What the Probate Office would use this staff for in off years without elections is yet to be discussed. However, the concept is in very early stages as both entities continue to look for a path forward.
Post Commissioner Karleen Ferguson said, “I think that’s fantastic because that group has done a fantastic job with our elections.”
Paris echoed the sentiment saying Gilmer is among the few counties, in his opinion, that had a flawless election.
With a solid path forward for the commissioners, Paris made a final note that he told Judge Chastain that if there was a push in state legislation to force a Board of Elections, Gilmer would “fight it tooth and nail.”
However, Paris was also quick to note that while he shared this with Judge Chastain, it was not as a threat. Rather he wanted him to know the county’s stance. Paris said the conversation was “not contentious.” He went on to add that Chastain has been very civil in all conversations considering the county’s path forward for elections.
Ingram may have threatened more than courthouse
News January 11, 2021ELLIJAY, Ga. – Earlier this week, a threat was reported and dealt with regarding the Gilmer County Courthouse on the night of January 5, 2021.
The reported threat allegedly came from Travis Webb Ingram, 44. Ingram was arrested by the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office the same day. Facing a felony charge of Terroristic Threats and Actions according to the Sheriff’s Booking Report, Ingram allegedly made threats on social media about going to the courthouse with a bomb. The report indicates as much, stating the offense location as cyberspace.
Travis Webb Ingram
However, according to the Sheriff’s report, the courthouse may not have been the only threat issued or the only charge possibly brought against Ingram.
The report indicates possible drug involvement in the incident. Reports indicate a suspicion of use or involvement of methamphetamines. While the investigation continues, new charges could be brought up, but for now, the only noted charge remains Terroristic threats.
In addition to the threat of a bomb against the courthouse, there was alleged reports noted in the incident report that Ingram was “extremely angry” and posed threats “against law enforcement and his ex-girlfriend’s life.”
The Sheriff’s Office dispatched several units to locations in response to the threat including the courthouse and to Ingram’s address. After arrest, Ingram was taken to the Gilmer County Detention Center for processing.
All of these new details including the allegations of drug use with methamphetamines, threats against the additional female, and threats against police are coming from the Sheriff’s Office on incident report. Yet, no additional charges were noted on the arrest record. FYN will continue to add new updates to this story as Sheriff Stacy Nicholson releases additional details.
Gilmer amid statewide recount and audit of elections
Election 2020, News November 17, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer County and its Probate Court are deep amid recounting ballots today as they join in what Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins is calling both an audit and a recount for the Presidential Election of 2020.
With employees from the Probate Office, Registrars, and some other volunteers, officials are fully confident in finishing the counting by Tuesday night.
A major stress on certain county offices, this major process has drawn in employees from both the Probate Office and Registrar’s Office to undertake recounting every one of the 16,576 ballots cast in Gilmer County, according to viewers and officials present at the recount.
Begun on Friday, November 14, 2o20, the process is being undertaken in the Jury Assembly Room of the Gilmer County Courthouse. Gilmer Probate Judge Scott Chastain said they used the Jury Assembly Room to allow public access and viewing of the audit, as required by law. However, he said the room also allowed for social distancing between tables and for space so that one table would not accidently hear someone from the next table over possibly causing some confusion.
Chastain told FYN that the process was going well on Friday, and they have been looking at the progress daily. Scheduled to count through today and ending tomorrow, Tuesday, November 17, 2020, they actually have until midnight on Wednesday to finish the count. This means that if something happens, the county does have a buffer of one extra day just in case.
Registrar Sherri Jones, left, helps alongside Gary Watkins, right, in the 2020 recount and audit of the Presidential Election on November 13, 2020.
Nearly twenty people at some times helping the process with including some floating staff that comes and goes, Chastain said that eleven core people including the elections review board are constantly working through the process.
Chastain and Watkins are both confident in the speed they have been accomplishing the task and are both fully confident in finishing in the scheduled time.
One of the major points of note in this process, those involved in recounting the ballots are only counting the presidential election. Chastain said this was a concern of his in the beginning. He worried that they would be needing to recount every vote in every race. Instead, focusing only on the presidential race is also helping in accomplishing the recount and audit with speed.
Moving forward, two very different outcomes could mean two very different futures for Georgia. Should the audit come up with different numbers than what the computers accounted for, Chastain said, “When we’re finished statewide, my hope is what the machines said is what we come up with. Because if we have different numbers than the machines, it’s not going to be a good situation statewide.”
A part of the statewide audit and recount, Gilmer County is going through 16,576 ballots through day-of, in-person-early, and absentee voting.
Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins echoed a similar thought saying that the recount could prove to be a test for the election equipment statewide. Watkins has also voiced, in previous interviews, her faith in Gilmer’s elections staff and poll workers and has been happy with the efforts that Gilmer has put forth in elections.
This specific election has seen records broken in terms of those visiting in early voting as well as absentee ballots. Yet, this phrase is beginning to lose some of its impact as Gilmer has repeatedly increased in the numbers this year in each of the election days throughout local, state, and federal offices.
Regardless of what the audit comes up with, some are still concerned that hand counts could become a common thing in future elections with parties constantly claiming instances of voter fraud and suppression as well as other things. However, nothing concrete has been reported yet.