Ex-deputy and wife admit to nanny servitude

An ex-deputy of Forsyth county and his wife pleaded guilty to keeping an illegal immigrant as an unpaid nanny in their home.

Prosecutors say Russell and Malika Garrett of Woodstock harbored an Indian woman from February 2003 to June 2005. She was first underpaid and then not paid at all. The couple said she could have left at any time but acknowledged telling her she would be deported and jailed.

She finally escaped with help from a neighbor.

The Garretts will be sentenced on April 22, 2009. Russell Garrett faces up to 10 years in federal prison. Malika Garrett could get a maximum of 15 years.

(Associated Press)

North Metro Atlanta officials indicted by federal grand jury

Officials say a part-time Fulton County magistrate, his deputy sheriff son and daughter-in-law are accused of luring a nanny from India then forcing her to work in their home for free.

William D. Garrett Jr. of Alpharetta, Forsyth County Deputy Russell Garrett and Malika Garrett of Woodstock were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges including human trafficking, alien harboring and witness tampering.

U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias said Wednesday that the three conspired to induce the woman to come to the United States in 2003 to work as a nanny for the younger Garretts' children, but later made her work for up to 16 hours a day, and threatened that if she didn't, they would have her jailed and deported.

Georgia pastor named Southern Baptist Convention prez

A pastor from Georgia has been elected as the new president of the Southern Baptist Convention. 55-year-old Johnny Hunt was tapped—he’s pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock. Hunt says the Southern Baptists need radical change and leadership. The convention has had 5 decades of declining growth, and from 2006-07, it reported a loss of nearly 40-thousand members. Hunt is a Lumbee Indian, which is a North Carolina-based tribe. Officials with the convention could not immediately confirm whether he stands as the denomination’s first Native American president.

Birds sold at pet store chain quarantined

Georgia’s Department of Agriculture has quarantined for at least the next month all birds sold at 35 PetSmart stores in the state. The reason is the outbreak of a bacterial disease that can be transferred to humans. State Ag commissioner Tommy Irvin says there are two confirmed cases of avian chlamydiosis--one at a PetSmart store in Hiram, and another in Woodstock. A quarantine was also called-for for a Superpetz store in Martinez near Augusta.

State lawmaker updates push for new dogfighting laws

A day after Michael Vick was sentenced to prison for dogfighting, a state senator called a news conference for an update on legislation against the activity in Georgia.

Republican Chip Rogers from Woodstock says he hopes the Vick media focus will push his dogfighting bill over the top in January’s legislative session.

Rogers’ bill would make it a felony to stage, promote, bet on, or watch fights in Georgia. It would also raise the financial penalty. Currently, someone has to be caught at a fight to face prosecution. And the penalty Rogers says, is too low.

"If you’re only going to fine the person, if caught and convicted 5-thousand, and they could potentially win 20 or 30-thousand…as you can see, it may be a good risk on the person involved in this type of activity to go ahead and do it. We want to take that risk away, and we want the penalty to be severe".

Rogers wants a fine of 20-thousand dollars and prison time for a 1st offense.

He says Georgia’s current dogfighting laws are some of the weakest in the nation.

Willie Nelson aids state's dogfighting legislation

Nelson (AP)

State lawmakers have found the face they need to rally support for anti-dogfighting legislation: Willie Nelson.

The country music legend and animal lover has filmed a public service announcement that could appear on television and radio soon. It supports a state Senate bill that would make it a felony for anyone to sell, trade or transport dogs for the purpose of dogfighting.

Dogfighting. (AP)

In the spot, over the strains of "Georgia on My Mind," Nelson looks into the camera and makes his appeal for the bill.

"Dogfighting is against the law in Georgia, but the laws are so weak, the beautiful state of Georgia has become a haven for dogfighters from around the country," he says.

The singer was asked to shoot the PSA by the Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society, a national animal welfare organization that produced the piece. State Sen. Chip Rogers -a Woodstock Republican who wrote the legislation long before Vick's involvement in dogfighting became public - hopes to get the spot on TV and radio around the time of the Dec. 10 sentencing for suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.

Vick pleaded guilty in August to a federal dogfighting conspiracy charge after his three co-defendants pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with authorities. Police say he bankrolled a dogfighting ring out of his Virginia mansion.

The Georgia bill passed unanimously in the Senate last session. It will go before a House committee in January.

"What we want to do is create awareness of how bad the laws are in Georgia to protect dogs," Rogers said. "I think this will go a long way to help people be aware of that."

Columbus animal shelter mascot was victimized by dog fighters, who cut his ears off, according to officials. (Dave Bender)

Click here for more GPB coverage about dogfighting and Vick.

No rain, few visitors mar 'Rain festival'

Billed as a rain festival to fight Georgia's drought, the event even included a rain dance, but turnout was slim and precipitation was even scarcer than people.

"Not much of a turnout," landscaper Linda Boyer said Saturday, squinting against bright sunshine under a cloudless sky and scanning the nearly empty parking lot sprinkled with several tables of water-related activities and volunteers.

Competition was part of the problem. "There's a lot of festivals going on elsewhere - the Ellijay Apple Festival, the pumpkin patches, haunted houses, Cagle Dairy's Corn Maize Festival..." Boyer said, adding that the event was a last-minute decision and was organized in just 10 days.

Cherokee County Water Authority employees handed out pamphlets and water-saving shower heads. Recycled water gurgled in a wishing well set up in the parking lot outside the Woodstock Art Center.

A local teen dance troupe appeared to perform in the tradition of Native American rain dances - but drew an audience of less than a dozen.

Kendra Cosner, who called herself "company mom" for the teen performers from Dancentre South, quipped:

"Bottom line, when it's not raining, everybody prays to the Big Guy regardless of culture."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the drought.

(The Associated Press)

Woodstock man caught in counterfeit scheme

Woodstock police have arrested a man on charges of manufacturing counterfeit money out of a self-storage unit. 29-year-old Conrad Maier-Sogheg was arrested on nine counts of forgery. Investigators say the man used laser templates with images of 100, 50, and 20-dollar bills to imprint them on plain pieces of paper. He used a counterfeiting process that originated in west Africa.

North Georgia county cancels fireworks

Drought has led another Georgia community to scrap plans for Fourth of July fireworks. Woodstock in Cherokee County north of Atlanta says many homeowners wrote letters voicing concerns over brush fires. Ware County in southeast Georgia has also banned fireworks through the Fourth of July.