Charges come after SWAT activity on Mountain Creek Road on Aug. 13
WALTON COUNTY, GA (Oct. 27, 2024) – A newly unsealed federal indictment has revealed that SWAT activity involved in a federal search warrant in Walton County has resulted in 12 people being charged with allegedly participating in a methamphetamine production and trafficking conspiracy. The incident resulted in a large law enforcement presence at a 10-acre property on Mountain Creek Church Road in Monroe on Aug. 13, 2024.
At the time, Walton County Sheriff’s Office public information officer Maj. Scott Whisnant said he could not comment on it as it was an active GBI/DEA operation. The information has now been released revealing that the case is being investigated by FBI’s Middle Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia State Patrol.
According to the indictment unsealed last week and revealed in a press release from the FBI’s Middle Georgia office, the federal search warrant was executed at 2370 Mountain Creek Church Road, Monroe, Georgia, as part of a joint law enforcement operation. Agents allegedly seized a total of 4,346 grams of “finished” crystal methamphetamine, 22 gallons of liquid methamphetamine (approximately equivalent to 377 kilograms of finished crystal methamphetamine) and $5,401. A federal search warrant was also executed on a Chevrolet Traverse occupied by Yuretzi Gomez, Yirla Gomez, Rafael Gomez and Uriel Garcia where agents reportedly recovered 1,046 grams of methamphetamine and $4,350 in cash. In addition, agents also reported seizing 4,523 grams of methamphetamine inside a Camaro occupied by Jared Calhoun and Ebony Jones-Tate.
Two of those charged are from Alabama, six are from other counties in Georgia and four are from Mexico. None of the defendants are from Walton County.
James Len Ramey, 52, of Comer is charged by indictment and will have his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles H. Weigle on Nov. 4. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine.
The following defendants charged by indictment have already had their initial appearances before Weigle and, with the exception of one, all also face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with a mandatory minumum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $10 million fine if convicted.
- Christopher Hyatt, 44, of LaGrange, Georgia,
- Kendell Cawthon, 59, of Baldwin, Georgia, i
- Bonterris Turner, 44, of Athens, Georgia,
- Demetrius Appling, 36, of Crawford, Georgia,
- Yuretzi Adame Gomez, 39, of Mexico
- Yirla Adame Gomez, 24, of Mexico
- Rafael Gomez Flores, 21, of Mexico
- Uriel Garcia, 32, of Mexico
- Jared Calhoun, 32, of Birmingham, Alabama
Andrea Robinson, 44, of Cleveland, Georgia; is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine;
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison is prosecuting the case for the Government.
An indictment is only an allegation of criminal conduct, and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law beyond a reasonable doubt.
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