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PAGE 6A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. DECEMBER 29. 2016
Continued from 1A
Miller
Continued from 1A
Burglary
through the hole in the rear
wall, cutting lines to the se
curity cameras and alarms.
In these robberies, inves
tigators believe they have
someone circling the area in
a vehicle, not parked at the
store. In Pickens County,
with the sparse traffic, inves
tigators ask if anyone ever
notices a car circling an area
late at night to consider it
suspicious and call 911.
Where safes are stolen,
they likely use a larger vehi
cle, possibly a van, to load
the safe and then another car
for the burglars, Webb said.
A July robbery of the
Main Stop Market, on North
Main, was thought to be the
work of the same group.
There, they simply busted out
the front door, ran in and out
with the safe in a matter of
minutes. Whatever they
drove to that robbery was
parked outside the range of
security cameras but the cam
eras did record the image of
four black males.
A third burglary at Dunn’s
convenience store on Antioch
Church Road in the spring of
2016 is also thought to be the
work of this group. A task
force from agencies across
north Georgia and the GBI
are looking at the group, call
ing them the “All About The
Money Gang.” A Google
search of the name “All
About The Money Gang” re
turns groups all over the
country and at least one in
another area of Georgia.
A similar Gordon County
robbery about two weeks ago
is attributed to this group.
The sheriff’s office ad
vises local businesses to take
several steps to protect them
selves:
• Make sure cameras and
alarm systems are installed
and operational. “We
strongly encourage alarm
systems,” said Det. Webb.
• Don’t keep any more
cash than necessary in a busi
ness. Make deposits regu
larly.
The sheriff’s office is ask
ing the public to keep an eye
out for anything suspicious.
As Det. Webb noted above,
there is not much traffic in
Pickens County late at night
so any vehicle that repeatedly
circles an area should be con
sidered suspicious.
• Keep an eye out for any
one standing around a closed
commercial business or resi
dence.
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Two, (Ray Ferrell and Jan
Simpson) both testified they
had known Miller for many
years from the local Lions
Club and Jasper First Bap
tist, which they all attended.
Both said they believe
Miller would abide by the
court conditions and could
be trusted to return for trial.
Both also said they would be
comfortable putting up their
personal property to secure a
bond for him.
Simpson said, “This is his
community. This is where he
lives.”
However both were hit
with questions from DA Ali
son Sosebee about whether
they realized that Miller is
charged with stealing from
the Lions Club. Also, for the
first time publicly, Sosebee
said Miller is now under in
vestigation for embezzling
from the estate of the Rev.
Charles O. Walker, former
First Baptist preacher and
another former client. Miller
has not been charged for
anything related to that es
tate.
The third defense wit
ness, retired lawyer and ad
ministrative judge Mark
Dickerson, was presented
less as a personal reference
and more as a professional
reminder that “innocent until
proven guilty” is a lynchpin
of the judicial system. Dick
erson said personally he had
a positive working relation
ship many years ago when
both he and Miller served on
the Grandview Lake board.
Continued from 1A
Lunch
Last year the state aver
age for students receiving
free or reduced lunch was
62.29 percent.
The National School
Lunch Program (NSLP) is a
federally assisted meal pro
gram that provides low-cost
or free lunches to children
that qualify based on poverty
rates set by the federal gov
ernment. Applications are
sent home with students at
the beginning of each school
year, but they can be submit
ted at any time. The official
percentage submitted to the
Georgia Department of Edu
cation reflects applications
that were processed by Octo
ber 31, 2016.
“We’re still processing
some applications,” said
Pickens County School Dis
trict’s Nutrition Supervisor
Beth Thompson, who made
her official report to the
Weight Loss Group
Choose to Lose - New
weight loss group will meet
at the Pickens County Com
munity Center Room #1
every Friday morning.
Weigh in time is between 9
a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Meeting
runs from 9:30 a.m. to
10:30 a.m. No charge. Call
Pat Groves for more infor
mation at 1-417-413-8025.
Appalachian
Beekeepers
The Appalachian Bee
keepers Association is made
up of northwestern Geor
gians willing and able to
“I am amazed that some
one accused of a theft crime
couldn’t get out on bail,”
Dickerson said. Defense
counsel Poole hit on this in
his closing arguments that
murders, rapists and all sorts
of violent criminals are re
leased on bail.
In his summation, Poole
reiterated, “He has already
been held six months with
out bond, this flies in the
face of us doing more than
providing lip service for in
nocent until proven guilty.”
Poole also argued that
Miller’s house and office
have been searched by inves
tigators and the GBI has
completed a full audit on his
and his firm’s finances, and
any fear there is a large ac
count of money for him to
flee with are unfounded and
the state is surely aware of
this.
DA Sosebee countered
that Miller is not the commu
nity figure witnesses por
trayed.
“He lives two lives,” she
said. “The public persona
and then there is the Mark
Miller who is under indict
ment for stealing approxi
mately two million dollars.”
Sosebee appeared to
make headway towards the
high bond by repeatedly
pointing out that this legal
saga began when Miller was
jailed for 10 days in Gilmer
County for refusing to ap
pear in court on a civil case
against him involving one of
the estates he is accused of
stealing from. She said his
history of ignoring multiple
court orders in the civil suit
shows he is a flight risk.
school board at their Decem
ber meeting.
Broken down by school,
this year Harmony Elemen
tary has the highest number
of students who receive free
or reduced lunch at 61.03
percent; Pickens High has
the lowest percentage at
43.72.
According to data from
the Georgia Department of
Education that shows official
numbers back to 2012, PHS
has historically had a lower
percentage rate than other
schools in the system.
Thompson said this is not
unusual.
“High schoolers won’t
turn in the forms or they just
don’t eat,” she said. “We
have 150-200 kids out at
lunch for the work program.”
Thompson said the Pick
ens system was down to just
36.4 percent of students in
the free and reduced lunch
program back in 2002 and
2003, but that the number
rose to a high of 55 percent
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the Senior Center in Jasper
(400 Stegall Dr.). Coffee
and snacks are on us. Ques
tions? You can call me
(Laura Chumley) anytime at
678-314-3057.
Amateur Radio Club
The Jasper Amateur
Radio Club meets on the
second Thursday of each
month at 7 p.m. at the Cor
nerstone Church Auxiliary
building, 145 Cornerstone
Drive (off Camp Road just
east of the Pickens County
Community Center).
All visitors are welcome
to attend. Each meeting has
a free presentation and dis
cussion of Amateur Radio
events or operating modes,
including Emergency Com
munications. Come see how
much fun Amateur Radio
can be! Please visit our
website at
www.jasperarc.com for
more details.
Judge Richard Winegar-
den, who has denied Miller
bond twice, closed by indi
cating that he would grant a
bond, but then asked the DA
for the amount she believed
would be the restitution if he
were found guilty on all
counts.
Based on what she said
were rough estimates, Sose
bee identified five cases
where she had a restitution
amount: for victim Laura
Diehl, $106,000; The Lions
Club $8,500; Cody Ray,
$61,375; David Kent Es
tate/Paulette Parker Estate
$1.6 million; William
Lawrence Miller estate
$231,855. A sixth case in
volving credit card fraud still
stands, but apparently some
type of restitution was made
before arrest, according to
court discussion.
The judge imposed bond
amounts in line with the
restitution amounts. As of
Tuesday Miller remained in
jail with the bond not posted.
In other court action the
same day:
DA Alison Sosebee and
Defense counsel led by Scott
Poole both brought a slew of
co-counsels and legal books
with them to the hearing and
both showed their ability
with technical criminal court
maneuvers.
In a day long on recita
tions of case law but short on
drama, the state’s indict
ments against Miller held.
Providing one of very
few lighter moments, Judge
Winegarden summed up the
morning in court saying,
in 2011.
“Now we’re creeping
down each year from that
high,” she said. “This num
ber is, of course, directly tied
to the economy and jobs.”
Compared to counties of
similar size, Pickens’ free
and reduced lunch student
population is not out of line.
This school year Dawson
County has 46 percent of
students who qualify for the
program. Fannin County has
60.83 percent. The Gilmer
“Mr. Poole is challenging
Ms. Sosebee’s indictment as
insufficient. Ms. Sosebee is
challenging Mr. Poole’s mo
tion against her indictment
as insufficient and Mr. Poole
is challenging Ms. Sosebee
motion against his motion as
insufficient.”
Ultimately the judge al
lowed the defense to present
their “Demur” motion that
stated the indictment in the
Kent/Parker estate is too
vague.
At the center of the legal
skirmish, defense counsel
challenged that the indict
ment does not provide spe
cific dates, nor any particular
transaction cited as being il
legal. The state countered
that Miller co-mingled all
the stolen funds with legiti
mate funds in “a single pot”
and it is impossible to iden
tify the stolen from legiti
mate money with later
spending.
With the estates of David
Kent and his sister Paulette
Parker, Miller is alleged to
have deposited checks from
them of $800,000 and
$900,000 into an account he
managed. Apparently there
was also $292,000 in the ac
count from other sources.
According to the DA,
Miller then spent money
from this account on travel,
merchandise and to benefit
himself. Sosebee said it was
impossible to identify specif
ically which purchases
Miller made with stolen
money. She argued, it would
be like having an account
with $50 from two different
people in it and then stealing
$25 out of it. Whose money
County district could not be
reached before press time for
this year’s numbers, but ac
cording to GDOE reports
last school year 71.45 per
cent of Gilmer’s student
body received free or re
duced lunch.
Cherokee County has a
significantly lower percent
age of their students in the
program this year than sys
tems to the north, with 30.35
percent of the Cherokee stu
dents included.
was stolen?
Poole argued the GBI
audit shows very clearly
when money went in and out
of the account but when it
comes to the indictment,
“there is nothing definite
about what we will have to
defend against.” He said by
not being more specific, the
indictment doesn’t give them
a chance to prepare. It
doesn’t describe whether it
was taken with a wire trans
fer or check. “Specifically,
what are they saying he did
with the stolen funds?”
Poole asked.
Responding to a question
from the bench, DA Sosebee
said if they listed every
transaction made using other
people’s money by Miller,
the indictment would have
been more than 1,000
counts.
In the end the judge let
the original indictment
stand, but acknowledged it
could have been more spe
cific. He said the client may
be fortunate the charges are
all general. If there were
hundreds and hundreds of
counts and if he is found
guilty, the sentence would be
much heavier.
The judge also noted that
the “aggregate” of all trans
actions lumped together in
the indictments may be eas
ier to defend than to prose
cute.
Had the defense’s mo
tions succeeded, the prose
cution would have been
forced to re-indict. The case
would not have been thrown
out.
There are 39 systems in
the state that have over 95
percent of a student body on
free or reduced lunch. Dis
tricts with the lowest number
of students in the program
last year were the Interna
tional Charter School of At
lanta with below five
percentage; Coweta Charter
Academy at 11.59 percent;
Decatur City at 14.33 per
cent and Forsyth County at
16.54 percent of students
who qualified.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Notice is hereby given of a hearing to be held on the 9 th day of
January, 2017, at 6:00 p.m. at the Pickens County Commis
sioner's Meeting Room before the Planning Commission of
Pickens County, Georgia. The purpose of the hearing is to dis
cuss a request by William Edward Simmons, to have parcel
053B-019 split into two parcels Tract B consisting of 3 acres to
remain zoned Highway Business (HB) and to change the zoning
of Tract A consisting of 2.17 acres from Highway Business (HB)
to Suburban Residential (SR) to enable Mr. Simmons to obtain
a VA loan. The property is located at 2415 Hwy 515 South,
Jasper, Georgia. The recommendation of the Planning Com
mission will be brought before the Board of Commissioners on
January 19,2017 at 5:30 p.m.rz- 12 - i6 - 1215
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