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Your official newspaper serving Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties in Georgia’s Lake Country | www.LakeOconeeNews.us
VOL. 18 NO. 48 FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 2016 75 CENTS
MORGAN COUNTY
ELABORATE FRAUD COSTS INVESTOR THOUSANDS
Katherine Klimt
katherine@lakeoconeenews.us
Another fraud case was
reported this week as swindlers
continue to target the people of
Madison and Morgan County.
On Monday, Madison resident
Horace McCullar reported to
Morgan County Deputy Christo
pher Lash that one of his clients,
Guy Rutland of Decatur, had
been the victim of a fraud scheme
that ultimately netted the thief
$25,000.
McCullar, a general partner of
Clairmont Investors, manages
two trusts for Rutland and super
vises transfers to and from those
accounts. The prolonged effort
to grift his client began on Oct.
20 when McCullar received an
e-mail from Rutland’s account
requesting $25,000. As this
was Rutland’s normal method
of requesting funds, McCullar
arranged for the transfer to occur
by Oct. 26.
On Oct. 27, McCullar received
yet another e-mail from Rutland’s
account requesting yet another
$25,000 in order to pay an “urgent
bill,” which would be included as
SEE FRAUD » A2
T. Michael Stone/Staff
Rarely used umbrellas were seen on the streets of Madison last week as Morgan County and rest of
Lake Country finally got some desperately needed rain. Drought conditions persist, but the forecast
calls for more rain in the coming week with precipitation expected on an as many as 12 days in
December.
PUTNAM COUNTY
Child molestor
sentenced to life
Asst. DA: Not enough time
Lynn Hobbs
lynn@lakeoconeenews.us
A 36-year-old Eatonton man
was sentenced to life in prison
Nov. 22 for molesting
an under-age family
member, but a pros
ecutor said that was
not enough time.
Ocmulgee Judicial
Circuit Superior
Court Judge Alison T.
Burleson sentenced
Eddie William
Crawford Jr. to life in
prison for four counts
of aggravated child molesta
tion; 20 years with the first 15
years in confinement for a single
count of child molestation; and
50 years with the first 25 years
in confinement for incest. Each
sentence is concurrent with the
others.
“There is not
enough time to be
served for the acts Mr.
Crawford has done,”
Assistant District
Attorney T. Wright
Barksdale said during
a pre-sentencing
recommendation
hearing in Putnam
County Superior
SEE GUILTY » All
Eddie William
Crawford Jr.
index
Calendar B5
Churches B8
Classifieds D4
Community B1
Opinions A4
Recipes D1
FRIDAY
60/38
Sunny
WEATHER »D8
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Published by
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GREENE COUNTY
Sheriff's Office looking for hit-and-run suspect
T. Michael Stone
michael@lakeoconeenews.us
The Greene County Sheriffs
Office is looking for a man who
may have left the scene of accident
that occurred on Penfield Road last
week.
According to incident reports
obtained from the GCSO, Greene
County resident Artie Hackney
told Deputy Brett Rutledge a black
Pontiac Montana hit his Dodge
Neon in his yard.
The man driving the Pontiac left
on foot, Hackney said.
Rutledge ran the license plate
through dispatch and found that it
belonged to Sheronda Montfort.
Rutledge and Sgt. Richards went
to Montfort’s address and ques
tioned her about the Pontiac.
She first told deputies the car had
been stolen.
When she was advised that failure
to cooperate with the investigation
could result in obstruction charges,
she changed her story.
She told the deputies that her
husband Benjamin McCommons
must have come to the house and
picked up the Pontiac.
Richards called McCommons
and told him that needed to come
home to speak with deputies about
the incident.
McCommons first said he was out
of town and then told Richards he
would be home in about 30 minutes.
He never showed.
PUTNAM COUNTY
An 87-year-old great-grand
mother from Eatonton was killed
in a two-car accident on Thanks
giving at the intersection of Church
Street and the James Marshall (U.S.
Highway 441 Eatonton) Bypass.
Irene Nelson was pronounced
dead at the scene by Putnam County
deputy coroner Brian Hicks at 1:16
p.m. Nov. 24.
According to the report filed
by Trooper Steven Stone of the
Georgia State Patrol, Nelson was
travelling east on Church Street in
a 1994 Ford Escort.
SEE WRECK » A3
Contributed
Putnam County rescue workers respond to a U.S. Highway 441 Eatonton Bypass Thanksgiving Day crash,
which claimed the life of driver Irene Nelson, 87, of Eatonton. Her 1994 Ford Escort rests on the shoulder of
the bypass, in background. The deadly stretch of road has claimed two lives in less than two weeks.
Great-grandmother killed in Thanksgiving Day wreck
Dave Brown
dave@lakeoconeenews.us
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