No more than 10 defendants await their day in court in the federal investigation of violent criminal street gang members accused of distributing methamphetamine and other drugs in Coffee County, Georgia, known as Operation Sandy Bottom.
As of Jan. 27, 36 offenders have admitted guilt, according to a Department of Justice press release.
“The continued delivery of justice in Operation Sandy Bottom demonstrates the commitment our office brings to the identification and disruption of criminal street gangs who sell misery and sow fear in our communities,” David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, said in the release. “Our many local, state, and federal law enforcement partners exhibited exceptional performance in bringing this drug trafficking operation to a halt.”
Nine of the defendants have yet to go before a judge, 14 will serve federal prison sentences of approximately 24 years, 22 have entered guilty pleas and are awaiting sentencing, while charges against one defendant have been dismissed, the release stated.
In all, 48 people were indicted in U.S.A. v. McMillan et al., which was filed in the Southern District of Georgia in 2021.
Operation Sandy Bottom takes its name from an area in the Sand Ridge neighborhood on the east side of Douglas, Georgia, known as “the bottoms,” according to the DOJ.
