ATLANTA – A man serving a life term in a Georgia state prison has been indicted on charges of constructing and mailing bombs to two federal buildings.
David Cassady, 55, is an inmate at Phillips State Prison in Buford. He is accused of building the bombs while serving as an inmate at the now-closed state prison in Reidsville and mailing two of them to a federal courthouse in Anchorage, Alaska, and a Justice Department building in Washington, D.C.
“Protecting our personnel and facilities is a fundamental role of our office and of our law enforcement partners,” said Jill Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “We also will take action against inmates who seek to commit crimes and harm the public from behind bars.”
Cassady is charged with making an unregistered destructive device, two counts of mailing a destructive device, and two counts of attempted malicious use of an explosive.
The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, and the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The indictment was returned by the April session of the grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia.
ATLANTA – A Fulton County Superior Court judge Thursday dismissed a bid to dismiss election interference charges against former President Donald Trump and 14 co-defendants on constitutional grounds.
Judge Scott McAfee rejected arguments that the indictments Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis brought against Trump and the other defendants last summer violated First Amendment protections of political speech.
“The Court finds that the Defendants’ expressions and speech are alleged to have been made in furtherance of criminal activity and constitute false statements knowingly and willfully made in matters within a government agency’s jurisdiction which threaten to deceive and harm the government,” McAfee wrote in a 14-page ruling.
“Even core political speech addressing matters of public concern is not impenetrable from prosecution if allegedly used to further criminal activity.”
Trump and his co-defendants are charged with participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia that saw Democrat Joe Biden carry the Peach State over incumbent Republican Trump.
Among other things, the conspiracy included a meeting by a group of Republican “fake” electors at the Georgia Capitol in December 2020 to declare Trump the winner in Georgia and a phone call in January 2021 in which Trump allegedly urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the 11,780 votes Trump needed to carry the state. Trump lost to Biden in Georgia by 11,779 votes.
Several of Trump’s co-defendants have pleaded guilty in the case in the months since a Fulton County grand jury handed down the indictments.
More recently, McAfee dismissed six of the indictment’s 41 counts, including three counts naming Trump directly.
Last month, the judge also ruled Willis could remain on the case, rejecting arguments from Trump and several co-defendants that she should be removed because of her romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, the special counsel she hired to lead the prosecution. Wade subsequently resigned from the case.
In a separate three-page ruling Thursday, McAfee also dismissed two motions for dismissal filed by the lawyer for former Georgia Republican Chairman David Shafer.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and argues the case is politically motivated.
ATLANTA – Atlanta-based PrizePicks, one of the largest daily fantasy sports operators in North America, will move its headquarters from Buckhead to Midtown Atlanta, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Thursday.
The move to the Star Metals Building on Howell Mill Road represents a $25 million investment. PrizePicks also plans to expand its Georgia workforce by 1,000 during the next seven years.
“Georgia continues to be a driver of tech growth and innovation, attracting innovative companies with its unique mix of talent and infrastructure,” Kemp said. “Today’s announcement is a reminder of our strength in both welcoming new projects as well as creating an atmosphere where existing businesses can expand and thrive.”
“This move to Star Metals will help us create more high-skilled and high-wage jobs in our great city while we deepen our connections across the community,” added Adam Wexler, co-founder and CEO of PrizePicks.
A representative of PrizePicks urged the General Assembly during the recently concluded legislative session to include fantasy sports in a bill to legalize sports betting in Georgia.
Stuart Wilkinson, director of government affairs for the company, told members of a state House committee that adding fantasy sports could generate $40 million to $50 million a year in Georgia on top of the estimated $100 million sports betting could be expected to raise in the Peach State annually. Sports betting legislation passed the Georgia Senate but didn’t reach the House floor for a vote.
PrizePicks is actively hiring. Those interested can learn more or apply for openings at www.prizepicks.com/careers.
The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce team worked on the headquarters project with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Invest Atlanta – the city’s economic development arm – and Georgia Power.
ATLANTA – A lobbying group representing the oil and gas industry launched a seven-figure ad campaign in Georgia and eight other states Wednesday targeting a proposal to tighten regulations on fossil-fuel emissions from passenger vehicles.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced new rules on auto emissions last month in a bid to steer the auto industry and its customers toward buying more electric vehicles.
Georgia has made a major commitment to EVs, including Hyundai’s $5.5 billion investment in a huge EV manufacturing plant west of Savannah now under construction and a $5 billion planned EV factory near Covington that automaker Rivian has put on hold.
The American Fuel & Petrochemicals Manufacturers is fighting back with ads that will run in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, Maine, and Montana urging Americans to contact their U.S. senators to support at least two measures to block the new EPA rules.
“The United States Senate has the power to stop President Biden’s unlawful policy banning most new gas cars, but it’s going to take both Democrats and Republicans to deliver on that and protect consumer freedoms,” the ad’s narrator states.
“With critical Senate votes on the horizon, it’s imperative that Americans are informed about the president’s gas car ban agenda and have the opportunity to contact their senators to make a difference.”
Six of the nine states where the ads will run – including Georgia – are considered battleground states for this year’s presidential election. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail this week to revoke the EPA rule if he is elected.
The new rule is aimed at making sure that within eight years, most passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. are either all-electric or gas-electric hybrids. The crackdown on fossil-fuel auto emissions is part of President Joe Biden’s agenda to combat climate change.
ATLANTA – The nuclear expansion at Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle has reached another milestone as it nears completion after years of cost overruns and scheduling delays.
Unit 4, the second of two new reactors being built at the plant south of Augusta, achieved 100% power on Monday night, the Atlanta-based utility announced Tuesday.
“Achieving 100% power is the latest milestone as we work to complete Unit 4 as a reliable, emission-free new energy source for Georgia,” according to a statement released by Georgia Power.
“Our teams continue testing for the unit, including safely running at various power levels and operating through real-life conditions, just as it will over the next 60 to 80 years after the unit enters commercial operation.”
Unit 3 at Vogtle went into full commercial operation last summer. Unit 4 is expected to begin operations between this month and June.
The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) voted in December to let Georgia Power pass on to customers almost $7.6 billion of its costs in building the two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle, the first in the United States since the 1980s.
The project was originally expected to cost $14 billion when the PSC approved it in 2009 but has more than doubled due to a series of cost overruns and delays in the construction schedule. The project will increase the average monthly residential customer’s bill by $8.95.
