Nine to be indicted on federal drug charges

Bainbridge Public Safety officers arrested five people on federal drug charges on Thursday morning, as part of an investigation into a drug ring operating across South Georgia.

The five suspects were being held at BPS headquarters and were scheduled to make their first appearance before a federal magistrate judge in Albany, Ga., later on Thursday. They are charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine/cocaine base with intent to distribute.

BPS also announced for the first time that 13 other people have been arrested during the past few months as part of the same investigation.

In addition to those arrested on Thursday, three other suspects were already in jail. One suspect is being considered a federal fugitive and is being sought by law enforcement.

All 22 persons targeted in the most recent investigation have been indicted in federal court.

The individuals arrested Thursday, all of whom are from Bainbridge, include:

• Ezekiel “Zeke” Hodge, 812 Helen Street

• Emanuel “Rap” Hodge Sr., 1006 E. Water Street

• Calvin “B” Anderson, 207 Louise St.

• Mark Ford, 902 Redwine Drive

• Cecelia Rosembert, 921 Palmetto St. Apt. 15B

 

The two Hodges, who are father and son, were both arrested at their residences, as was Anderson. Ford turned himself in at BPS headquarters and Rosembert was arrested after police spotted her vehicle.

Two agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency office in Columbus, Ga. assisted BPS officers in Thursday’s drug suspect roundup.

The three men already in custody but who will be indicted in federal court include:

• Emanuel “Shorty” Hodge Jr.

• Kelvin “Boo Boo” Ford

• David Hassan Love, also known as “New York”

 

BPS identified the federal fugtive as Johnny Kenon of Donalsonville. Kenon has allegedly been evading law enforcement trying to arrest him, BPS Deputy Director Frank Green said. Kenon may be hiding out in Quincy, Fla., or Seminole County, Ga.

 

Those arrested during the past few months, who also face federal charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine/cocaine base with intent to distribute, were identified as:

• Melvin “Bo-Cat” Johnson of Bainbridge

• Wallace Taylor Jr., a.k.a. “Little Wallace” of Donalsonville

• Fred “G Money” Harris of Seminole County

• Bernard “B.J.” Hollinger of Blakely, Ga.

• Jarrod Sims of Colquitt, Ga.

• Eric Screen of Valdosta, Ga.

• Lamar Patterson of Tifton, Ga.

• Xavier Benton of Bainbridge

• Noberto “Negro” Martinez of Dawson, Ga.

• Bobby “Big 50” Taylor of Albany, Ga.

• Albert Brice of Ray City, Ga.

• Brian Burroughs of Ray City, Ga.

• Jacqueline Kelly of Ray City, Ga.

 

BPS’ Green said all 22 people were charged as a result of a continuing investigation into a large-scale illegal drug ring allegedly run by two brothers, Carlos and Kelvin “Popcorn” Johnson of Donalsonville, Ga.

The Johnson brothers were among 23 people arrested on state and federal drug charges on March 16, 2011. 19 of those, including the Johnsons, were indicted in federal court last year.

Green said police allege illegal drug sales by members of the drug ring continued even after the Johnsons were arrested, so the investigation continued. More arrests related to the investigation are anticipated in 2013, Green said.

As a result of the investigation into the drug ring, law enforcement have seized 30 kilograms of cocaine and more than $1 million in cash.

Please see our related story from March 2011 for more details about the Donalsonville-based drug ring.

 

Thursday’s roundup

BPS officers, assisted by two agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s office in Columbus, Ga., planned and conducted Thursday’s roundup beginning at approximately 8 a.m.

After being given photos of the suspects and possible locations where they could be found, the participants in the roundup split up into teams of investigators paired with patrol officers.

Although the arrests were made without any resistance, officers did rouse some of them out of bed before placing them into handcuffs.

Officers thought no one was home at 207 Louise Street, just down the street from BPS headquarters, when they went there shortly before 10 a.m. to look for suspect Calvin Anderson.

After knocking several times on the door with no answer, officers were about to try somewhere else when BPS Investigator Ryan Deen heard what sounded like a person moving around in the rear of the home.

Officers knocked on the door again and when there was no answer, BPS Chief Investigator Robert Humphrey kicked open the door, which fell off its hinges and onto the floor. Anderson, who had been sleeping in a bedroom with a guest, was ordered to put his hands up in the air as officers entered the home.

Ezekiel Hodge and Emanuel Hodge Sr. were both arrested without incident when they showed up in the front doorway of their respective homes.

A relative brought Mark Ford to BPS Headquarters so that he could surrender to police.

Having unsucessfully looked for Ms. Rosembert at several locations, officers regrouped at BPS headquarters and a “be-on-the-lookout” notice for her vehicle was given out over E-911 radio frequencies. About 15 minutes later, around 10:45 a.m., Deputy Director Green was notified that a BPS patrol officer had located the vehicle and taken her into custody.

 

Suspect Gallery (Pictures from the web sites of the Georgia Department of Corrections and Decatur County Jail)