Nine Newly Indicted in Southern District of Ga on Federal Charges for Crimes Including Drugs and Illegal Firearms Possession

Nine defendants are among those facing federal charges including illegal possession of firearms after separate indictments by a grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia, while recent actions in U.S. District Court include guilty pleas and criminal sentences related to illegal gun possession.

The indicted cases are being investigated as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI, to reduce violent crime with measures that include targeting convicted felons who illegally carry guns.

“Convicted felons illegally carrying firearms are significantly involved in violent crime plaguing our communities,” said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “With our law enforcement partners, we will continue to make our streets safer by putting such people behind bars.”

In the past four years, more than 800 defendants have been federally charged in the Southern District of Georgia for illegal firearms offenses – most often for possessing a firearm after conviction for a previous felony. Recent federal legislation increases the maximum penalty for illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon to 15 years, up from 10, for those found in possession after June 25, 2022.

Defendants named in federal indictments from the January 2023 term of the U.S. District Court grand jury include:

• Akeem Ajmia Lanier, 34, of Metter, Ga., charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; Possession with Intent to Distribute Marijuana; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
• Dexcadrick Graddy, 25, of Dublin, Ga., charged with Distribution of Fentanyl; Distribution of Methamphetamine and Fentanyl; Possession with Intent to Distribute Metonitazine (a fentanyl analog), and Eutylone (bath salts); Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine; Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl and Metonitazine; and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime;
• Milton Parker III, 36, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Michael Floyd, 30, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Reginald General Jackson, 36, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Tyrique Marquez Mills, 25, of Waycross, Ga., charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Robert Sanders, 65, of Augusta, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Tony Lavardo Blount Jr., 32, of Augusta, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and,
• Terrance Webster Dunn, 32, of Augusta, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Additional defendants recently have been adjudicated on federal charges that include illegal firearms possession:

• Raheem DaSheen Jackson, 31, of Savannah, was sentenced to 116 months in prison after his conviction at trial of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. A jury convicted Jackson of the charge Aug. 17, 2022, where court testimony from Savannah Police officers described Jackson running from a January 2021 traffic stop and dropping a pistol as he fled. Jackson, who was adjudicated to be an Armed Career Criminal because of multiple prior felony convictions including illegal gun possession, faced a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.
• Daquan Dwayne Young, 27, of Savannah, was sentenced to 100 months in prison after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Savannah Police officers arrested Young after a March 2022 traffic stop when they found a pistol in his waistband.
• James Wayne Cooper Jr., 37, of Waynesboro, Ga., was sentenced to 44 months in prison and fined $2,000 after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Burke County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Cooper in October 2020 after Cooper drove into a field and attempted to run away from a traffic stop. Deputies found a loaded pistol in Cooper’s vehicle.
• Cody Truitt Devore, 24, of Sylvania, Ga., was sentenced to 32 months in prison and fined $1,500 after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Devore was on federally supervised release from a prior firearms conviction in January 2022 when Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies conducted a traffic stop and found two rifles in his vehicle.
• Maurice Brown, 21, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. In July 2022, Gray sped away from an attempted traffic stop in Savannah by a Georgia State Patrol trooper and later ran from the vehicle. Savannah Police officers found him hiding in a nearby home, and found a pistol under the driver’s seat of the vehicle Brown was driving.
• Christopher Donnell Crumbley, 34, of Waynesboro, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Burke County sheriff’s deputies arrested Crumbley on outstanding criminal warrants in Dec. 2021 and found three pistols in his possession.  
• Dontrell Kydreek Mathis, 30, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies found two pistols in Mathis’ vehicle after a traffic stop in Aug. 2022.
• Trevor Elijah Walker, 24, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies were attempting to serve arrest warrants on Walker in November 2019 when he ran away, dropping a pistol as he fled.
• Windsor Hodge, 64, of Martinez, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies searched Hodge’s residence on a warrant in January 2022 and found 13 firearms. Hodge previously was convicted of Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Crime, a felony.
• Deontre Hubert, 28, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Hubert had a pistol in his waistband in June 2022 when pulled over by Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies for a traffic violation. He previously was convicted in state court of Involuntary Manslaughter, a felony.
• Marshall Lee Cushman, 39, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. A Georgia Bureau of Investigation agent retrieved a rifle from an Avera, Ga., residence in September 2021, and Cushman admitted leaving the gun there. Cushman has multiple prior felony convictions.
• Titus Nathaniel Travis, 23, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Travis was on probation from a prior felony conviction in June 2022 when Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies, FBI agents and officers from the Georgia Department of Community Supervision searched Titus’ residence and found two pistols and a rifle. Travis is a member of a Bloods-affiliated criminal street gang.
• David Alexander Harris, 42, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Eutylone and Cocaine, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Harris in March 2020 after finding him asleep at the wheel of his vehicle at a traffic light. A pistol was lying in Harris’ lap.

Agencies investigating these cases include the ATF, the FBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Savannah Police Department, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, and the Georgia State Patrol.

The cases are being prosecuted for the United States by the Southern District of Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Under federal law, it is illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she falls into one of nine prohibited categories including being a felon; illegal alien; or unlawful user of a controlled substance. Further, it is unlawful to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense or violent crime. It is also illegal to purchase – or even to attempt to purchase – firearms if the buyer is a prohibited person or illegally purchasing a firearm on behalf of others. Lying on ATF Form 4473, which is used to lawfully purchase a firearm, also is a federal offense.