A Bainbridge resident was found not guilty after being put on trial for reportedly buying cocaine from a local supplier.
Cecilia Rosenbert was charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine, possessing more than five kilos worth more than $115,00. Her trial was held in Albany last Monday and concluded Friday.
“We presented the evidence to the U.S attorney’s office in Albany,” Frank Green, Bainbridge Public Safety Deputy Director and lead investigator in the case, said.
Rosenbert and others involved in the drug cabal, including Rosenbert’s supplier Emmanuel Hodge, were indicted in November 2012 as part of the bust on the Johnson Brothers trafficking organization.
In June, the Johnson Brothers were sentenced to life in prison for operating a large-scale cocaine distribution from their home in Donalsonville that went from Atlanta to Havana, Fla.
Green said Rosenbert was suspected to be part of a smaller circle of the drug ring that went through many Southwest Georgia cities including Tifton, Valdosta and Bainbridge.
“They make the decision on which people to indict,” Green said about the U.S. attorney’s office. “We don’t make the decision. The attorney’s office decided to indict this woman and probably half a dozen people in Bainbridge that were involved in this.”
Green said he testified in court listening to around 16 wiretapped phone conversations between Rosenbert and Hodge. Rosenbert would typically order $300 worth of cocaine in quick, snappy conversations, according to Green’s analysis of the tapes. Green presented this and other evidence to the jury during last week’s trial.
“The majority of them end up entering a plea (deal,)” Green said. Green said that is how the Rosenbert case concluded.