by Dave Williams | May 16, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – An eight-count federal court indictment unsealed in the Southern District of Georgia charges 30 alleged members of the Sex Money Murder (SMM) gang and associates with crimes including racketeering and murder.
The suspects were arrested in four Georgia cities – Savannah, Hinesville, Augusta and Atlanta – according to an indictment unsealed on Wednesday.
According to court records and testimony, the defendants trafficked large amounts of deadly drugs – including methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin – throughout the Savannah area. They also are accused of taking part in sophisticated fraud schemes to obtain federal COVID-19 relief and unemployment benefits, causing a loss of more than $850,000.
The indictment also charges Byron Hopkins in the shooting death of a 19-year-old gang member who wanted to leave the gang.
“Today’s indictment is an important step in ending gang violence on our streets and in our prisons,” said Tara Lyons, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “My office will continuously work with our law enforcement partners to ensure public safety.”
According to court documents, Hopkins and other SMM members intercepted a 19-year-old man in February 2020 and took him to a rural residential neighborhood, where Hopkins shot him to death. The victim had reportedly expressed a desire to leave the gang after accusing Hopkins of having sex with a minor girl who became pregnant.
If convicted, the defendants face up to life in prison for the murder, up to life in prison for the racketeering conspiracy, and up to 30 years behind bars for wire fraud.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Labor, the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the state Department of Corrections, and nine local law enforcement agencies.
The SMM gang is a subset of The Bloods, a gang that originated in Los Angeles in the early 1970s. From there, the gang spread to areas along the East Coast, including Georgia, where it operates inside and outside of prisons and jails.
by Ty Tagami | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – As Georgia looks ahead to the 2026 elections, a court fight is still brewing over the election maps scheduled to be used.
The federal court of appeals in Atlanta heard three cases Thursday stemming from those early maps, which were drawn by state lawmakers in response to the decennial population count in 2020.
The outcome could influence the next elections, and it could inform future courts about how to interpret the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits race-based discrimination.
At issue is the way lawmakers responded to a district court’s order to redraw maps that were found to have discriminated against Black voters by diminishing their influence.
The court ordered the state to redo the maps so that more districts were majority Black.
The state redrew them, and the court approved the results, leading to the appeals by the American Civil Liberties Union and by numerous voters.
Lawyers in those three cases made many of the same points Thursday morning.
The plaintiffs argued that the state violated the federal election law by creating new Black majority districts by using Black voters from other Black majority districts or districts where white voters tended to vote with Black voters.
The state’s attorney countered that the law doesn’t prohibit that.
“Are there the right number of districts? Yes,” said Stephen J. Petrany, solicitor general for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr. “Are they basically in the right area? Yes. That is the end of this case.”
Judge Adalberto Jordan, one of the three judges hearing the cases before the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, pressed Petrany, saying the plaintiffs were asserting that the state’s remedy “completely excludes” the aggrieved Black voters who used to be part of a racial majority voting area but were now in the minority, by creating new Black-majority districts with other Black voters.
Petrany said not all Black voters were so moved and that it wouldn’t be illegal if they had been.
Abha Khanna, arguing for the plaintiffs in two of the cases — Coakley Pendergrass et. al. v. Georgia Secretary of State and Annie Grant et. al. v. Georgia Secretary of State — said the state was moving voters around on a board without changing the game.
“In the Grant case, there are 185,000-plus Black voters who have suffered a vote dilution injury,” she said, meaning they were shifted into a white-majority area that was unlikely to elect Black candidates while other Black voters in a Black-majority voting district were moved to a new district with a Black majority.
“It was a shell game,” she said.
Ari Savitzky of the ACLU argued for the plaintiffs in the third case, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. v. Georgia Secretary of State. He said the district court failed to do due diligence on the remediation maps.
He alleged that the state simply re-labeled districts and that the district judge accepted them on their face.
“The district court fundamentally didn’t look at these numbers,” Savitzky said.
It is unclear when the appeals court will issue decisions. Judge Jordan said there would be no ruling until another case also pending in the appellate court is decided. That is the case that led to the remediation maps.
Although the state lost that first round and then redrew the maps, it also appealed that court loss.
It’s unclear whether any of these decisions will be made in time to affect next year’s elections.
by Dave Williams | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia Board of Regents approved a $70 million plan Thursday to renovate Bobby Dodd Stadium on the Midtown Atlanta campus of Georgia Tech.
The project, to be funded by the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, will create a new premium level of seating on the stadium’s west sideline, replacing the existing president’s lounge and entry lobby with a 7,700-square-foot Founder’s Club featuring 124 seats.
The west sideline renovations also will include eight new Founder’s Suites and eight new elevated suites, plus renovations to 16 existing suites, press operations, and food service.
Fifteen suites on the east sideline will be renovated, as will the Field Club lounge measuring 20,000 square feet. The plan also calls for creating a new Speakeasy Club.
Ten existing suites in the north endzone also are slated for upgrades. Work in the south endzone will involve renovations to three suites, a relocated press area, and booths for security, radio, statistics, and flexible use.
Upgrades to general seating will include new chairback seating throughout the bowl except in the student areas. New video boards will be added at the south end and northwest corner of the stadium.
The project will cost an estimated $39.7 million to build, while $18 million will go toward equipment. The work will be done between the end of the 2026 football season and the start of the 2027 season.
by Dave Williams | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch will seek the Republican nomination to run for lieutenant governor next year.
Gooch, R-Dahlonega, announced his candidacy Wednesday in a press release, describing himself as “unapologetically pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-school choice.”
“Georgia deserves bold leadership that will stand up to the insanity of the Democrat Party, protect our families from the invasion of criminal illegal aliens and keep our economy vibrant and strong,” Gooch said. “I see a Georgia that is the gold standard for our great country — a state that leads the way in securing our borders, stopping violent crime, abolishing the state income tax, and defending the values that make America great.”
The 2026 lieutenant governor’s race is expected to draw a crowded field of candidates looking to succeed Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who is expected to vacate the post to run for governor.
Gooch was elected to the state Senate in 2010 after serving as a member of the State Transportation Board and in Lumpkin County government. His Republican colleagues elected him majority leader in 2022 after he previously served as majority whip and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Gooch holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from North Georgia College and State University (now known as the University of North Georgia) as well as a master’s degree in public administration. He owns an environmental services company in Dahlonega.
by Dave Williams | May 15, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.6% last month for the 11th consecutive month, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
The jobless rate in the Peach State remained six-tenths lower than the national unemployment rate.
“This sustained economic success supporting a globally competitive labor force of over 5 million is a testament to the collaboration between our state government, business leaders, and communities,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Barbara Rivera Holmes said. “Great economies are built on great partnerships, and Georgia continues to prove that a jobs-first approach benefits everyone.”
The number of jobs in Georgia rose by 3,700 in April to 4.98 million. The job sectors posting the most gains during the month were accommodation and food services, with an increase of 3,500 jobs, and transportation and warehousing, which gained 3,100.
The largest declines occurred in the information sector, which lost 4,000 jobs in April. Professional, scientific and technical services declined by 2,700 jobs.
Several key jobs indicators lost ground in April. The state’s labor force fell by 3,992 to 5.38 million. The number of employed Georgians decreased by 3,628 to nearly 5.19 million.
Initial unemployment claims rose by 2,610 last month to 21,906.
