by Dave Williams | Aug 27, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – An Augusta man has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to using a U.S. Postal Service key to steal mail as part of a bank fraud scheme.
Earl Demetrius Overton, 32, was charged with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and illegal possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, Overton used master keys stolen from postal deposit boxes to steal mail, including business checks, from collection boxes in the Augusta area. He then altered the checks, deposited them into bank accounts, and withdrew more than $400,000 before the banks realized the checks were fraudulent.
Overton, a felon, was also caught with a firearm and loaded 15-round magazine, along with stolen bank checks, cash, financial documents, and debit cards.
“There were hundreds of citizens of this district who were victimized by the defendant’s conduct,” Margaret E. Heap, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said Wednesday. “With the collaborative efforts of our law enforcement partners, fraudsters who use the mail to steal will be brought to justice.”
“This sentence serves as a reminder that the FBI will not tolerate criminal conduct, particularly when it involves someone in a position of trust defrauding individuals and institutions using stolen government property,” added Paul Brown, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Atlanta office.
Besides the prison sentence, U.S. District Judge J. Randall Hall also ordered Overton to pay a $2,000 fine, $300 in special assessments, and to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the FBI, and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.
by Dave Williams | Aug 27, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Hyundai Motor Group, which opened a huge electric vehicle manufacturing plant west of Savannah last March, is upping its investment in the United States.
The Korea-based automaker announced plans Tuesday to invest $5 billion through 2028 in addition to the $21 billion the company already has committed to U.S. operations, reinforcing its long-term commitment to job creation and growth.
While Tuesday’s announcement did not specify how much of the additional investment will go to the Hyundai Metaplant in Bryan County, the $5 billion allocation is expected to create around 25,000 new jobs.
Highlights of the investment include a new steel mill in Louisiana and construction of a state-of-the-art robotics facility with an annual capacity of 30,000 units. Hyundai also plans to expand its U.S. auto production capacity to meet the growing demands of American consumers with greater speed and efficiency, according to a company news release.
The Metaplant broke ground in the fall of 2022, an initial investment of $5.5 billion that was later increased to nearly $7.6 billion with the addition of adding 400 jobs on top of the 8,100 originally planned. It remains the largest economic development project in Georgia history.
by Dave Williams | Aug 26, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp announced two new appointments to his administration Tuesday.
Oscar “Bo” Fears will take over as commissioner of the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, moving up from his current role as the agency’s senior deputy commissioner.
Fran Dundore will serve as director of the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement after spending three years as the office’s director of school services.
Fears will succeed Kevin Hagler, who will retire at the end of this month as the second-longest serving banking commissioner in the department’s history. Dundore will succeed Ian Caraway, who will become director of policy and external affairs for the governor’s office after a brief stint as interim director of the Office of Student Achievement.
Fears joined the Department of Banking and Finance in 2013 as deputy commissioner for legal affairs. Before that, he worked at the state attorney general’s office for 16 years, including a stint as group leader of the Commercial Transaction and Litigation Division’s Business and Finance Section.
Dundore began her career as a high school English teacher in Stephens County and has spent the last 28 years serving public school students across Georgia as a principal, district curriculum leader, and assistant superintendent.
Both appointments take effect Sept. 1. Kemp announced the moves from São Paulo, Brazil, where he is leading a Georgia delegation on a trade mission to South America.
by Dave Williams | Aug 26, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Trade through Georgia’s ports supported 650,965 full- and part-time jobs across the state during the last fiscal year, the Georgia Ports Authority reported Tuesday.
The number of statewide jobs grew by 41,770 in fiscal 2024, up 7% from the previous fiscal year. Georgia ports now help sustain 12% of total state employment.
“Georgia has been recognized as the No.-1 state for business for over a decade in part because we’re also the best state for reliable infrastructure,” Gov. Brian Kemp said. “As powerful economic drivers, the ports of Savannah and Brunswick are a key part of the pro-job creator environment we’ve fostered to ensure every part of our state can thrive.”
“Georgia’s ports are one of the strongest economic engines, fostering the development of virtually every industry,” added Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia, which conducted the economic impact study.
“The ports are especially supportive of other forms of transportation, logistics, wholesale/distribution centers, warehousing, manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, and mining.”
According to the Selig Center study, Georgia’s two deep-water ports accounted for $174 billion in sales in the last fiscal year, up 2% from fiscal 2023, and contributed $77 billion to the state’s Gross Domestic Product, a 7% increase over the previous fiscal year. The ports also generated $43 billion in income, up 7.5% compared to fiscal 2023.
The top three exports were forest products, food, and automotive cargo. The top imports were machinery, retail goods, and furniture.
Activity at the ports also yields $10 billion in federal tax revenue each year, $3 billion in state taxes, and $3 billion in local taxes.
by Dave Williams | Aug 25, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Georgia National Guard will deploy about 75 soldiers and airmen to help support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across the state, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday.
The request to support ICE in Georgia is not related to President Donald Trump’s recent decision to deploy National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.
Kemp also emphasized that assigning the Georgia National Guard to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies is nothing new. The governor sent Guard troops to the Texas border with Mexico early last year, accusing the Biden administration of failing to secure the border.
“Under the bad policies of the prior administration, every state became a border state,” he said. “I was one of the first to mobilize both personnel and policies to crack down on illegal immigration. … Georgia has led on this front for years and will continue to do so through this latest measure while still meeting all responsibilities and duties the Guard has to the state.”
The Georgia Guard troops will not conduct law enforcement functions or make arrests. Rather, they will be providing administrative and logistical support including appointment scheduling, biometric collection, data entry, and performing basic vehicle maintenance in order to free up ICE personnel for law enforcement activities.
Nonetheless, Democrats criticized the deployment decision as unconstitutional and unsustainable.
“As a retired naval officer, it goes against my core values and principles to use Georgia’s National Guard for purposes beyond its lawful duties,” said Georgia Rep. Derrick Jackson of Tyrone, one of several Democrats vying to succeed the term-limited Kemp as governor.
“I believe the brave men and women in uniform did not take an oath to use force against our citizens in the United States. Let me be crystal clear: the purpose of the Georgia National Guard is to defend against foreign threats and aid in natural disasters.”
The Guard members assigned to the mission are scheduled to receive training in mid-September be on duty shortly thereafter.
