Local gang crackdown yields guilty pleas in federal court

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Pleas were entered by three local defendants who were busted in a monthslong partnership between deputies and the FBI to crack down on gang-related violence.

The suspects were arrested during last year’s Operation Grace, which included checkpoints, targeted operations in high-crime areas and high-tech cameras that tracked criminals.

Among those rounded up were three local defendants:

• Amir Dontell Foreman, 27, of Augusta, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Richmond County sheriff’s deputies arrested Foreman in August 2022 after finding a pistol in his vehicle during a traffic stop as part of Operation Grace.
• Kevon Quantae Davis, 23, of Augusta, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Richmond County sheriff’s deputies arrested Davis in January 2022 as part of Operation Grace. A member of the Bolt Alley Drive Boyz street gang, Davis dropped a pistol while running on foot from deputies.
• Taipai La’Don Brewer, 43, of Augusta, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Richmond County sheriff’s deputies arrested Brewer in July 2022 after finding a pistol and drugs in his car during a traffic stop as part of Operation Grace.

The three suspects were just a handful of those nabbed during Operation Grace, which yielded 119 felony arrests including 55 suspected gang members, 176 guns and more than $200,000 in cash, in addition to drugs ranging from opioids to MDMA.

In addition to the Operation Grace suspects, several other local men entered pleas recently in federal court. Among them:

• Reginald “Gunslinger” DeMarco Smith, 49, of Augusta, who was sentenced to 60 months in prison and fined $2,500 after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Smith sped away from an attempted traffic stop in February 2021 by a Richmond County sheriff’s deputy, then abandoned his vehicle and ran into the woods. Investigators found a loaded pistol, a significant amount of drugs and more than $18,000 in cash at the scene, and Smith was located and arrested nine months later. Smith has multiple prior felony convictions for drug trafficking offenses and was on federal supervised release at the time of his arrest.
• Tareem Burgess, 39, of Hephzibah, who was sentenced to 60 months in prison and fined $1,500 after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Richmond County sheriff’s deputies arrested Burgess after a traffic stop in August 2020 when they found a pistol in his vehicle. Burgess has prior convictions for robbery and family violence.
• Rondell Smith, 27, of Hephzibah, who was sentenced to 42 months in prison and fined $1,500 after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Richmond County sheriff’s deputies arrested Smith in February 2022 after finding a pistol in his vehicle during a traffic stop. At the time of his arrest, Smith was on supervised release from a 2017 federal conviction for possession of a stolen firearm.
• Joshua Jerome Russell, 27, of Swainsboro, who was sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to discharging a firearm in a school zone. A Johnson County sheriff’s investigator arrested Russell in August 2022 after seeing Russell exit his vehicle at a Johnson County High School football game, point a pistol in the air and fire multiple times, causing a panic at the stadium.
• Reco Casey, 33, of Augusta, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. In September 2021, Richmond County sheriff’s deputies found a pistol in the vehicle where Casey was a passenger. Casey was on state felony probation at the time of his arrest.
• Ricky Maurice Johnson, 35, of Swainsboro, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Johnson was arrested in June 2022 after a car and foot chase by Georgia State Patrol troopers and Savannah police officers.
• Terrance Webster Dunn, 32, of Augusta, who awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A previously convicted felon, Dunn was arrested in October 2022 when Richmond County sheriff’s deputies found him riding a bike in a shopping center parking lot, taking photos of himself with a pistol in his waistband.

Also in federal court, three local suspects were indicted on gun charges after investigations as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a collaboration between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies:

• Tavarres L. Freeman Jr., 22, of Augusta, charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
• Todd Joseph Harbuck, 47, of Augusta, charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a stolen firearm.
• Alvin York, 47, of Swainsboro, charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

“Getting guns out of the hands of criminals is an essential element of the fight against violent crime and the disruption of our neighborhoods,” said Jill E. Steinberg, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.