by Dave Williams | Jan 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Macon man has pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing two credit unions in 2022 and attempting to rob a third.
Felix Cordes, 57, faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 after pleading guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Macon to using a firearm to rob the MidSouth Community Federal Credit Union in April 2022 and the Central Georgia Regional Credit Union the following month, stealing $38,374. Both credit unions are located in Macon.
Cordes also admitted to a third robbery attempt at another MidSouth Community Federal Credit Union in May 22, which was unsuccessful.
The robberies caused employees of the credit unions to suffer panic attacks, U.S. Attorney Peter Leary said Friday.
“Bank tellers were terrified when Felix Cordes walked into their workplace and threatened them with a firearm, a scene he replayed again and then attempted a third time,” Leary said. “His final act (was) thwarted by brave credit union employees who saw him coming with a gun and quickly locked down the bank.”
“Felix Cordes was a ruthless and relentless criminal who possibly could have killed innocent bank employees had he not been stopped by the diligent work of investigators,” added Bibb County Sheriff David Davis. “We can be grateful that justice has been served and he will be held accountable for spreading mayhem in our community.”
A sentencing date will be determined by the court. Besides the prison time and fine, Cordes faces five years of supervised release following his prison term.
by Dave Williams | Jan 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Ryan Buchanan has announced his resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Buchanan will step down from the post on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013, Buchanan was nominated to move into the top job by President Joe Biden in late 2021. He took up the position in the spring of 2022 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“It is nearly impossible for me to reduce to writing my admiration and gratitude for you,” Buchanan wrote Thursday in a message to members of his office. “You embody the high ideals of the Department of Justice, and you live out our mission daily. The Northern District, the state of Georgia, and the United States are safer because of your efforts.”
Under Buchanan’s leadership, the Northern District of Georgia created a dedicated section – the Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section – to formalize and expand the office’s civil and criminal civil rights work.
The new section helped convict former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill of intentionally violating the civil rights of six pre-trial detainees by ordering them strapped into restraint chairs for hours without legal justification. The unit also prosecuted 11 high-ranking city of Atlanta officials and contractors for bribery, theft, tax fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, including the conviction of former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.
Other civil rights investigations uncovered multiple violations of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners at the Fulton County Jail and of inmates incarcerated in state prisons.
Buchanan also spearheaded the creation of the Northern Georgia Fentanyl Prosecution Working Group, a data-driven effort targeting the counties in the Northern District hit hardest by the opioid epidemic.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. will succeed Buchanan on an acting basis until Trump nominates a ATLANTA – Ryan Buchanan has announced his resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Buchanan will step down from the post on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013, Buchanan was nominated to move into the top job by President Joe Biden in late 2021. He took up the position in the spring of 2022 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“It is nearly impossible for me to reduce to writing my admiration and gratitude for you,” Buchanan wrote Thursday in a message to members of his office. “You embody the high ideals of the Department of Justice, and you live out our mission daily. The Northern District, the state of Georgia, and the United States are safer because of your efforts.”
Under Buchanan’s leadership, the Northern District of Georgia created a dedicated section – the Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section – to formalize and expand the office’s civil and criminal civil rights work.
The new section helped convict former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill of intentionally violating the civil rights of six pre-trial detainees by ordering them strapped into restraint chairs for hours without legal justification. The unit also prosecuted 11 high-ranking city of Atlanta officials and contractors for bribery, theft, tax fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, including the conviction of former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.
Other civil rights investigations uncovered multiple violations of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners at the Fulton County Jail and of inmates incarcerated in state prisons.
Buchanan also spearheaded the creation of the Northern Georgia Fentanyl Prosecution Working Group, a data-driven effort targeting the counties in the Northern District hit hardest by the opioid epidemic.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. will succeed Buchanan on an acting basis until Trump nominates a ATLANTA – Ryan Buchanan has announced his resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Buchanan will step down from the post on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013, Buchanan was nominated to move into the top job by President Joe Biden in late 2021. He took up the position in the spring of 2022 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“It is nearly impossible for me to reduce to writing my admiration and gratitude for you,” Buchanan wrote Thursday in a message to members of his office. “You embody the high ideals of the Department of Justice, and you live out our mission daily. The Northern District, the state of Georgia, and the United States are safer because of your efforts.”
Under Buchanan’s leadership, the Northern District of Georgia created a dedicated section – the Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section – to formalize and expand the office’s civil and criminal civil rights work.
The new section helped convict former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill of intentionally violating the civil rights of six pre-trial detainees by ordering them strapped into restraint chairs for hours without legal justification. The unit also prosecuted 11 high-ranking city of Atlanta officials and contractors for bribery, theft, tax fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, including the conviction of former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.
Other civil rights investigations uncovered multiple violations of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners at the Fulton County Jail and of inmates incarcerated in state prisons.
Buchanan also spearheaded the creation of the Northern Georgia Fentanyl Prosecution Working Group, a data-driven effort targeting the counties in the Northern District hit hardest by the opioid epidemic.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. will succeed Buchanan on an acting basis until Trump nominates a successor and the Senate confirms the president’s choice .
by Dave Williams | Jan 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A co-founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is being awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal Thursday at a White House ceremony.
President Joe Biden named 20 recipients of the award this week, including Paula Wallace, 76, who launched SCAD in 1978 with her then-husband, Richard Rowan. She became the private college’s president in 2000 and continues to serve in that role.
The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.
SCAD, a private college, now numbers more than 17,000 students, with campuses in Savannah and Atlanta, as well as study abroad opportunities in Lacoste, France, and other locations. The school also offers online degrees.
“A lifelong educator and trailblazer of the arts, Paula Wallace dreamt of a school that would transform how we think about professional education,” according to a White House news release. “By establishing the esteemed Savannah College of Art and Design and serving as its president, she has guided thousands of students into creative industries.”
The list of Presidential Citizens Medal recipients includes several well-known politicians, among them former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who lost her seat in Congress after serving on the House committee that investigated then-President Donald Trump’s role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chaired the January 6th Committee.
Other prominent former politicians receiving medals include former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a New Jersey Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for his party’s presidential nomination in 2000; former Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut; and former Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas.
by Dave Williams | Jan 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia’s two U.S. senators have landed plum committee assignments as the 119th Congress prepares to convene on Friday.
Democrat Jon Ossoff will serve on the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which has jurisdiction over the federal budget.
“I look forward to serving on the Senate Appropriations Committee in the new Congress, where I will continue working across the aisle to deliver for Georgia,” Ossoff said Thursday.
Meanwhile, fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock has been appointed to the Senate Finance Committee, which handles federal tax and trade policies.
“I will be a guardian on the committee against any efforts to gut critical safety net programs like Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare … against expensive tariffs that will hurt Georgians’ pockets and bottom lines, and against any attempts to give massive tax cuts to the top 1% at the expense of working families and communities,” Warnock said.
Republican President-elect Donald Trump has said he will push to extend the tax cuts he steered through Congress in 2017 during his first term in office and impose heavy tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada. Trump will take the oath of office on Jan. 20.
Ossoff will continue serving on the Senate Intelligence and Rules committees, while Warnock will return to the Senate Agriculture and Banking committees.
by Dave Williams | Jan 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The filing deadline for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) for victims of Hurricane Helene has been extended to Feb. 7, the Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday.
DUA is a federal program established to help workers whose primary income is lost or interrupted by a disaster declared by the president. It differs from regular state unemployment insurance in that it provides benefits to Georgians who aren’t eligible under the state’s program. That includes the self-employed, farmers, loggers, and workers who are paid by commission.
Hurricane Helene rampaged through South Georgia and north through the Augusta area in late September, killing 34 Georgians and causing heavy rainfall and widespread flooding as well as extensive power outages.
Gov. Brian Kemp said last month that he will propose a state disaster relief package early in this year’s legislative session for those who suffered losses due to Helene. Lawmakers will convene under the Gold Dome Jan. 13 to begin the 2025 General Assembly session.
Georgia counties affected by Helene include Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Fulton, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Newton, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Stephens, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, and Wilkes.
Applicants may be eligible for a weekly benefit of up to $365 retroactive to the week of Sept. 29. Eligible individuals must first apply for regular unemployment insurance on the state Department of Labor website at dol.georgia.gov or in person at one of the agency’s career centers.
Income verification may be required when applying for DUA benefits. Acceptable proof of earnings includes copies of the most recently completed tax returns, quarterly estimated income tax payment records, or similar documents.
