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FBI: Former Fulton County detention officer sentenced to federal prison

ATLANTA — A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced a former FultonCounty detention officer to federal prison Derick Deshun Frazier, 32, of Stockbridge, pleaded guilty on Oct. 24to accepting a bribe to smuggle cell phones and cigarettes to inmatesinside the Fulton County Jail. U.S. District Judge Orinda D. Evanssentenced Frazier to six months in federal prison, which is to befollowed by three months of home confinement, then two years ofsupervised release. “Cell phones in the hands

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Court: County must reinstate firefighter

ATLANTA — The Supreme Court of Georgia today upheld a lower court’s ruling ordering DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis and Fire Rescue Chief Eddie O’Brien to reinstate Sell Caldwell III to his former position as a fire captain. The county’s former fire chief in February 2010 fired Caldwell following a house fire in Dunwoody where an elderly woman died. Caldwell was terminated for failing to locate the dispatch address and failing to take command of

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Reports: Trooper involved in fatal crash fired

ATLANTA — A Georgia State Patrol Trooper involved in a fatal crash on New Year’s Eve that claimed the life of the wife of the Atlanta Braves’ trainer has been fired, according to published reports. On Dec. 31, Trooper First Class Donald Crozier was en route to help a trooper involved in a pursuit when he ran a red light and crashed his cruiser into a second vehicle driven by Braves Trainer Jeff Porter, according

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Former NBA player sentenced to probation

ATLANTA — A former NBA player was sentenced Thursday to probation and ordered to pay restitution after pleading guilty to financial transaction card fraud, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said. Ronald Michael Behagen, 60, who played seven seasons in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks and other teams, faces three years of probation and must pay $3, 570 in restitution. According to prosecutors, between April and June 2011, Behagen used a 68-year old Sandy

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Medicaid contractor employee indicted for computer theft

Romona Ferrell-Davis was indicted by a DeKalb County Grand Jury on December 8, 2011 on four counts of computer theft, one count of Computer Invasion of Privacy and one count of Identity Fraud. Ferrell-Davis was employed at Hewlett-Packard (HP), fiscal intermediary for the Georgia Department of Community Health, the Georgia Medicaid agency, from Nov. 10, 2010 to Oct. 11, 2011. The indictment charges that on October 7, 2011, and again on October 11, 2011, Ferrell-Davis

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Opinion: Ethics board members can only serve one four-year term

ATLANTA — A member of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission “may serve no more than one complete four year term of office,” the state attorney general’s office state said in a recent opinion. However, Deputy Attorney General Dennis R. Dunn said, a member of the board — formerly known as the State Ethics Commission — “may for a period of less than a complete term hold over in office until his successor

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Inmates use cell phones ‘to commit additional crimes’

ATLANTA — The state Department of Corrections is investigating a Monday incident at Telfair State Prison in Helena in which Inmates used smuggled cell phones to start a fight. Three inmates were sent to the hospital, and two remain in stable condition. A corrections officer was also hurt. Two dorms at the prison were placed on lock down. But, state officials say smuggled cell phones cause problems. Inmates, authorities say, can use the phones to

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UPDATE: Court upholds death penalty for man claiming mental retardation

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court this week upheld the death penalty for a man who now claims he is mentally retarded. Warren Lee Hill Jr. did not claim mental retardation during his 1991 trial. However, in 1996, Lee added to a “habeas petition to allege mental retardation for the first time, and he later claimed that Georgia’s reasonable doubt standard of proof (state law) violated the Eighth Amendment,” according to an opinion from the 11th

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Court upholds death penalty for man claiming mental retardation

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court this week upheld the death penalty for a man who now claims he is mentally retarded. Warren Lee Hill Jr. did not claim mental retardation during his 1991 trial. However, in 1996, Lee added to a “habeas petition to allege mental retardation for the first time, and he later claimed that Georgia’s reasonable doubt standard of proof (state law) violated the Eighth Amendment,” according to an opinion from the 11th