Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2C
: FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thuraday, Jwry 14,1999
Levi Frady case gets highway billboard
By Beth L. Chester
Staff Writer
Until Levi Frady’s mur
derer is found, motorists trav
eling along Hwy. 306 near
Hammond’s Crossing will be
reminded every day of the
tragedy which officials say
began amidst a rolling, rural
backdrop only a few short
miles away.
It was near that area,
police believe, where some
one abducted Levi as he rode
his bike on a Wednesday
afternoon.
Now the 11-year-old’s
face beckons from a billboard
for his killer to be brought to
justice.
The message to Levi’s
killer is clear, said Jim
Hallman, Special .Agent-in-
Charge of the regional
Georgia Bureau of
Investigation: “If he sees it,
we want him to know that
we’re still there.”
The North Forsyth Middle
School sixth grader disap
peared near his home on
Burrus Mill Road Oct. 22.
Photo/Tom Brooks
Commissioners are sworn in
In late December, Forsyth County Probate Judge Joyce Hawkins administered the oath
office to Michael Bennett and John Kieffer. Bennett was elected to return to the board
after a term’s absence. Kieffer was re-elected to another term to represent District 1.
Bennett attended his first official board meeting on Monday, Jan. 11.
F LYES from 1C
the Flye family while driving
drunk, Woodyard said he wants to
see drastic reform in the legal sys
tem and law enforcement.
Woodyard said mandatory jail
time, public service and license
revocation are all areas the state
could improve.
Elected officials aren’t the
only ones trying to change the
laws.
The Georgia Chapter of
Mothers Against Drunk Driving
say the Flye case will be a main
issue when they meet this week to
discuss their 1999 policy changes.
Rachel Gaddis, public policy
liaison for MADD Georgia, said
her organization wants to imple
ment a DUI study committee and
lobby for making drunk drivers
subject to murder laws.
“You consciously take a drink
or drugs then get behind the
wheel, it’s premeditated,” she
said.
Last year, a North Carolina
jury convicted a drunk driver for
murder under the state’s cutting
edge law. Gaddis said MADD
Georgia wants to shape this state’s
laws after North Carolina’s and
push for a nation-wide drunk dri
ving level of .08.
The Flye case also hit close to
home for Gaddis, who pulls dou
ble-duty as the president of the
Cherokee/ Pickens County
MADD chapter.
Two weeks before the Flye
family died, three people were
killed by a drunk driver in
Cherokee County.
“We need to wake up,” she
said. “This is not a problem that’s
going away.”
Woodyard said he and his fam
ily will start lobbying for ehange
after they’ve had more time to
recover.
Even if the laws are changed,
Evans said it is ultimately the
responsibility of drivers and those
with them to stay sober.
“People must start taking indi
vidual responsibility,” he said.
Now, just more than six
months later, Hallman said
agents also want the public to
know that they will not give
up until Levi’s assailant is
found.
“We want to let it be
known that this case is still
actively being investigated,”
Hallman said - just as much
so today as the day Levi was
found shot to death in a
wildlife management area of
Dawson County.
Hallman said agents also
want to make certain the pub
lic does not become compla
cent and they’re hopeful the
billboard will help them con
tinue to generate new infor :
mation in the case.
As he has said in the past,
Hallman says investigators
do currently have what
appear to be good leads in
the murder but said agents
don’t know at this point
whether those leads will take
them to the killer(s): “We’ve
had some that looked promis
ing in the past, but once
investigated they turned out
to be nothing. We’ve got
Published May 3,1998
Chattahoochee Internal
Medicine group opens
new offices in Cumming
Dr. William B. Boling
Chattahoochee Internal Medicine
Group announces the opening of
new offices located at 303 Pirkle
Ferry Road in Cumming. Dr.
William B. Boling and Dr. J.
Trenton Thomas are certified by the
American Board of Internal
Medicine and are now accepting
new patients.
Boling is a 1984 graduate of
Forsyth County High School and
graduated with honors from
North,Georgia College in 1988.
He completed a degree in micro
biology at the University of
Georgia in 1989. He is a gradu
ate of the Medical College of
Georgia in Augusta where he
completed his internship and resi
dency in internal medicine. He
received an academic appoint
ment as chief medical resident
from the Medical College of
Georgia and was clinic physician
at the University Hospital Medical
Clinic before moving back to
Cumming. Boling is the son of
Hugh and Julianne Boling of
Cumming.
Thomas graduated from Villa
Rica High School in 1985, attend
ed Georgia Institute of Technology
and graduated with honors from
West Georgia College with a
BEST STORIES OF '9B
some of those now, and we
just don’t know yet how it
will go.”
Although the state has
used billboards in the past to
discourage drug use and
deliver other general topic
information, the use of a bill
board in a murder investiga
tion is not common.
The billboard space was
donated by OCI Inc., of
Athens, and graphics were
paid for with state law
enforcement funds.
A new GBI agent has been
assigned to lead the investi
gation, after a transfer
request made by the previous
lead agent prior to the murder
case was approved. Hallman
said the current lead agent is
also the regional child
abuse/crime specialist.
If you have information
about Levi’s murder, call the
Georgia Bureau of
Investigation at (770) 535-
5423 or the 24-hour-hotline
at (800) 432-9284. To remain
anonymous, write: Levi
Frady Case, P.O. Box 229,
Dawsonville, Ga. 30534.
5P
lb d
Dr. J. Trenton Thomas
degree in biology in 1989. He is
a graduate of the Medical College
of Georgia in Augusta where he
completed his internship and resi
dency in internal medicine. He
received an academic appoint
ment as chief medical resident
from the Medical College of
Georgia and has been on the
internal medical staff of Erlanger
Medical Center/Beacon Health
Alliance in Chattanooga, Tenn,
since 1997. Thomas and his wife,
Stacey, have a 19-month-old son,
Sam. Thomas is the son of Mr. and
Mrs. J. Hoyt Thomas of Villa Rica.
Thomas and Boling are on staff
at Baptist North Hospital and
North Fulton Regional Hospital.
Chattahoochee Internal Medicine
Group will offer a complete and
highly accessible array of primary
and secondary care services that
are tailored towards the needs of
patients. Professional services will
be available Monday through
Friday at the Cumming location.
New patients may call (770) 205-
1294 for an appointment at.
Chattahoochee Internal Medicine
has recently been accepted with a
number of new insurance programs.
Please call and see if yours has been
UUQ6Q.
Charges filed against man involved in triple fatality
By Michael Kurtz
Staff Writer
The lone survivor of the July 13
fatal crash on Hwy. 20 is facing
charges of vehicular homicide.
Ralph Gilbert Cox Jr. was arrested
Sunday on three counts of vehicular
homicide, two counts of driving under
the influence, driving on the wrong
side of the road and two misdemeanor
charges for his part in the accident.
Cox allegedly crossed the center
line of Hwy. 20 while driving a Jeep
Cherokee and hit a Chevrolet Lumina
head on, killing Heidi Flye, 32, and
her daughters Cathryn, 6, and Audrey,
4.
His blood alcohol content was
more than three times the legal limit,
according to court reports.
Cox was also injured in the acci
dent, breaking several ribs. He was
released from North Fulton Regional
Hospital Saturday before his arrest.
Leaseco defendant pleads guilty to federal charges
By Jennifer Eskew
Associate Editor
One of the owners of Issac
Leaseco, a Cumming-based auto sales
company accused of defrauding
Nationsßank of some $34 million,
pleaded guilty this week to fraud and
money laundering.
Julian David Gilbert, 44, also
known as Solomon Gilbert and David
Gilbert, could receive a maximum five
years in prison, plus a $250,000 fine or
a fine twice the amount of the bank’s
loss, said Richard H. Deane, U.S.
Attorney for the Northern District of
Georgia.
The case was investigated by the
FBI and Criminal Investigation
Division of the Internal Revenue
Service after Nationsßank filed a civil
case in Forsyth County against
Leaseco followed by an involuntary
bankruptcy case against the company
in U.S. District Court.
Gilbert pleaded guilty to conspira
cy to commit bank fraud, bankruptcy
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101 West Main Street (located on the square)
Tues-Fri 10:00 - 6:00 Sat 10:00 - 4:00
Ralph Cox
Cox posted a
$17,700 property
bond Sunday night.
That bond has
invoked public out
cry at the legal sys
tem.
Several callers
to the Forsyth
County News com
plained about the
leniency of the
bond and the fact Cox was free.
Sheriff Denny Hendrix, who
approved the bond, said Cox’s injuries
were a concern.
“My fear was that if he became
injured in the jail as a result of those
injuries, the county citizens would be
responsible in a lawsuit,” Hendrix
said, adding that Cox is not a flight
risk because of his injuries.
Cox reportedly had an oxygen tank
with him when he was arrested and
still suffers from the broken ribs.
fraud and money laundering.
The conspiracy to commit bank
fraud related “to a scheme to defraud
Nationsßank, that involved the deposit
of fictitious automobile drafts by ...
Issac Leaseco,” Deane said.
“Nationsßank lost more than $34 mil
lion as a result of the scheme.
The bankruptcy fraud came from
“the concealment and transfer of assets
belonging to the estate of a bankrupt
debtor, Issac Leaseco, which was the
recipient of more than $34 million of
the monies of Nationsßank obtained
through the scheme to defraud
Nationsßank,” Deane said.
“Gilbert also pleaded guilty to the
charges of conspiracy to commit
money laundering offenses involving
concealment of the nature and location
of the proceeds of the bank fraud and
bankruptcy fraud.”
The fraud began in February 1994
when Leaseco opened a bank account
with Nationsßank and began deposit
ing program drafts. The drafts were
issued from a bank in Florida, whose
Under Georgia law, the sheriff pfR
set bond for all but 12 offenses.
include murder, rape, armed robbery,
drug trafficking, kidnapping, arson and
treason.
Hendrix said he also received cqtq
plaints about the bond on Monday, but
is bound to protect the rights of .the
accused and the citizens. J,,
Cox was arrested by city police last
year for driving under the influence.
He pleaded no contest to the charges,
He is scheduled to appear in
Superior Court on Aug. 14. Hendrix
said that date could be moved up
because of Cox’s medical condition.
Kroger set up a memorial fund for
the Flye family. Donations can Be
made at any Kroger or Nationsßank
location in the metro Atlanta area and
all proceeds benefit the Eglestdn
Children’s Hospital and Scottish Rife
intensive care units.
Published July 22,1998 J,
x’
address later proved to not only be’
false but to also be the Florida address
for Leaseco and another company
called Winoak Auto Brokerage. ’. ..
Nationsßank discovered the?
scheme and froze the account in July
1996.
Gilbert will be sentenced July IQ at
2 p.m. in U.S. District Court in
Atlanta.
McLean Gilbert and Donald
Gilbert are currently under indictment
in the case but have no court proceed
ings scheduled. . 1
As part of the bankruptcy case,
Leaseco’s collection of antique artq
unique cars was sold at auction ir\
January 1997. In total some 235,cars
such as a 1938 Ford, a 1952 Bentley, a
1965 Corvette Stingray and a (992
Lamborghini Diablo once owned by
actor Charlie Sheen, were sold.
Since that time, the lot' op
Dahlonega Highway north),’of
Cumming has sat empty.
Published May 8,1998 ‘