Newspaper Page Text
Drug cartel leader gets 15 years
Head of million-dollar Lenox Park criminal organization to be deported afterward
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville man was sen
tenced to more than 15 years in
federal prison in connection to
the Lenox Park Cartel, a group
authorities said distributed 8,800
pounds of methamphetamine dur
ing a 10-month investigation.
Ruben Antonio Ruiz pleaded
guilty to conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute metham
phetamine and possession of a
firearm during a drug trafficking
crime. He was sentenced to 181
months in federal prison Dec. 19.
Hall County Multi-Agency Nar
cotics Squad agents arrested 11
of 12 in 2016 following a federal
grand jury indictment.
“In the 10 months during the
course of the undercover inves
tigation, the group led by Ruben
Ruiz was believed to be respon
sible for the distribution of 4,000
kilograms, (8,800 pounds) of meth
amphetamine,” Lt. Scott Ware
said at the time of Ruiz’s arrest.
There is also a stipulation of five
years supervised release
after incarceration.
“Upon completion of
the term of imprison
ment and release from
the custody of the Bureau
of Prisons, the defen
dant is to be turned over
to a duly-authorized
immigration official for
appropriate removal pro
ceedings from the United States,”
according to Ruiz’s sentencing
documents.
Fourteen people were indicted
in the June 2016 supersed
ing indictment, and most
have taken plea deals.
The MANS unit applied
for warrants in Septem
ber 2015.
“The investigation
focused on the criminal
drug trafficking organi
zation, informally known
as the Lenox Park Cartel.
Several of the suspects resided
and/or furthered their crimi
nal activity in the subdivision in
Gainesville ... known as Lenox
Park, as well as other areas in Hall
County and Stephens County,”
Ware wrote in a news release.
At the time of the March 2016
arrests, search warrants led to the
seizure of roughly 20 pounds of
methamphetamine, a half-pound
of cocaine, 6 pounds of marijuana,
16 firearms and seven cars.
“The street value of the drugs
seized was estimated at a cumu
lative value of $896,000.00 of
methamphetamine, $12,000 of
marijuana, and $22,400 worth of
cocaine,” Ware said.
Ruiz
Engine 209 helped area grow
Photo courtesy Hall County Library System
The Midland Railroad served Gainesville around the turn of the century. Engine 209 was reported to have been built for the
tsar of Russia. The Russian Revolution canceled the order. It made the last steam-powered trip Sept. 19,1959.
Historic train could relocate in Gainesville land deal
SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
The Gainesville City Council is looking to sell the land on which the historic
Engine 209 now sits in a bid to spur growth. Mayor Danny Dunagan said he
would like to see the train in a more convenient location for the public to enjoy.
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
The engine on the corner of Jesse
Jewell Parkway and West Academy
Street, which the city of Gainesville
may be relocating, bears the name
“Gainesville Midland.”
That was a railway connecting
Gainesville to Athens. In 1904, Gaines
ville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad
became Gainesville Midland Railway.
The railway started carrying passen
gers in 1906 and mail the year after
that. The company was reorganized in
1936 under the name Gainesville Mid
land Railroad.
The railroad supported industrial
growth, particularly in the textile
industry, which emerged in the 1900s,
according to David French, museum
services manager with the Northeast
Georgia History Center.
“(The railway) shipped a lot of raw
materials to the mills here in Gaines
ville,” French said.
The textile industry was not the
only industry served by the rail line,
though. French said building materi
als, machinery, coal, fertilizer and
other commodities also shipped on the
Midland, enabling growth in Gaines
ville in the early 1900s.
Grace Cronic Autry worked for
the Gainesville Midland from 1950 to
1986, doing a little bit of everything
■ Please see TRAIN, 8A
Sloan satisfied
as he exits Hall
school hoard
BY JOSHUA SILAVENT
jsilavent@gainesvilletimes.com
Brian Sloan is in his office at Chestnut Mountain
Church on a recent afternoon where he is the pastor
of adult ministries and care, but he’s reflecting on the
end of his time on the Hall County Schools Board of
Education.
“The learning curve on the school board was pretty
intense that first year,” he said.
Sloan admits that the public nature
of elected office was an adjustment.
“Once your name is on the ballot...
all bets are off,” he said. “It took me a
while to get used to that.”
Sloan was elected to the board of
education in 2006. Across three terms,
he has seen the school district made
over under the leadership of Superin
tendent Will Schofield and other stal
warts on the board of education.
He had run for office because of his passion for school
athletics, Sloan said, and the opportunity it presents stu
dents to develop character-building habits.
And Sloan said he has consistently pushed for more
funding for school security.
He cast the lone dissent in June on the final budget
he voted on as a school board
member, not because it wasn’t
a good budget, Sloan said, but
because he wanted additional
funding to hire more resource
officers to patrol elementary
schools.
He added that there were
only a handful of times “I stood
against the other four” board
members.
Public scrutiny and compro
mise may be the political price
of elected office, but it was the
hard decisions that Sloan faced
when the Great Recession hit
in 2008 and 2009 that were the
toughest to manage.
Plans for the school district
to expand were scrapped as
funding and enrollment stag
nated or decreased.
Much of the planned expansion was slated for South
Hall, Sloan’s district, and with some school conditions
deteriorating, officials shuffled schools around to fill
gaps: Flowery Branch High was moved to the Spout
Springs Road location as overcrowding became a prob
lem; C.W. Davis Middle moved into the former Flowery
Branch High grounds; South Hall Middle to the former
■ Please see SLOAN, 8A
‘Once your
name is on
the ballot...
all bets are
off... .It took
me a while to
get used to
that.’
Brian Sloan
Board Member
Sloan
Fireworks shop owners aim to illuminate New Year
BY KELSEY RICHARDSON
krichardson®
gainesvilletimes.com
Instead of watching a fire
works show many people
in Hall County flock to local
stores to stock up on their
favorite sparkly explosives
for New Year’s Day.
Catering to the community
along Sardis Road in Gaines
ville, 20-year-old Andres Gon
zalez Jr. opened up his first
fireworks stand on Dec. 17.
Gonzalez added the pop
up shop to his small grocery
store, Supermercado El Anto-
jito, which he took ownership
of around a year ago. The
business has been in Gonza
lez’s family for the past 13
years.
“I’ve been doing it since I
was a kid,” he said. “I try to
provide things that people
love and make customers
happy. I want to build the
community and make it
stronger.”
He was inspired to attach
a fireworks stand to the store
after realizing the distance
most people drove in the Sar
dis community to purchase
their explosive goodies.
Instead of commuting into
town or South Carolina, peo
ple can travel down the road
and pick up a wide range of
fireworks.
Since he was young, Gon
zalez said he has celebrated
New Year’s Day and Christ
mas with fireworks. He hopes
to help others in his commu
nity have the same type of
positive experience.
“To me fireworks are all
about families and children
being happy and seeing the
lights,” he said.
Illuminating Gainesville
since 2014, Xtreme Xplo-
sives Fireworks on Riverside
Drive offers fiery devices
from around the world.
Jason Sillay, owner of the
store, said he tests all of the
■ Please see FIREWORKS, 8A
KELSEY RICHARDSON I The Times
Located off of Sardis Road in Gainesville, Supermercado
El Antojito provides a one-stop-shop for fireworks.
INSIDE
WEATHER 2A
DEATHS 9A
0 *40901
06835 8
Advice
6B
Bridge
6B
Business
8B
Calendar
2A
Classified
9B
Comics
7B
Life
5B
Lottery
2A
Opinion
7A
Our Region
8A
Sports
1B
TV/puzzles
6B
i High Low
47
Lake Lanier level: 1,070.69 feet
Full pool 1,071. Down 0.04 feet in 24 hours
Eric Saxton, 48
Marion Trimmer, 91
Linda Williamson, 88
Barbara Allison, 86
Betty Brooks. 90
Stevie Caudell, 60
Hazel Corn, 89
Bobby Cray, 84
William Dover, 48
Byron Jones, 56
Michael Meyers, 56
Charles Mote, 83
Connie Mote, 67
Dolores Mulazzi, 91
AnnaSeabolt, 55
Nancy Shields
Mary Sowers, 91
