A federal grand jury has indicted two people on charges they used the online service Craiglist to lure men to have sex with a 17-year-old girl. Prosecutors say 26-year-old Lawrence Edward Pruitt of Central Islip, N.Y., and 26-year-old Marvis Nichole Harris of Columbia, S.C. were indicted on charges involving sex trafficking of a minor. The pair made their initial appearance on Thursday before a federal magistrate. U.S. Attorney David E. Nahmias says FBI agents and local police were investigating possible illegal activity involving underage girls recruited to work as prostitutes when they encountered the 17-year-old at an Atlanta-area hotel. Nahmias says the agents had seen pictures of the 17-year-old at a Website advertising erotic services and claiming she was 19, although the defendants knew her real age.
(Associated Press)
The FBI last month raided the headquarters of Angel Food Ministries in Monroe, Ga. Earlier lawsuits allege founders paid selves, sons excessive amounts. (Photo: John Bazemore / AP)
For more than a decade, Angel Food Ministries seemed like a godsend for families who purchased its low-cost food boxes and the churches that shared millions in revenue for distributing the goods.
It became an economic juggernaut in the faith community, employing hundreds, feeding thousands a month and pouring $19 million into its network of more than 5,000 host churches in 35 states.
Now, lawsuits coupled with an FBI raid at the group's headquarters has raised accusations of financial mismanagement at the nonprofit. The raid and ensuing FBI investigation have left congregations and church leaders weighing whether to cut their ties to the high-profile charity after the reported disclosure that six-figure salaries were paid to its founders. "We get signed up and I start hearing this," said the Rev. Chad Massey, whose Unadilla First Baptist Church in central Georgia planned to place its first Angel Food order this month. "It's kind of hard to know what to do."
FBI officials haven't disclosed the nature of the investigation surrounding the ministry.
Angel Food has acknowledged that a grand jury investigation is looking into what it called "alleged financial irregularities" involving unspecified individuals — but not the ministry itself.
Meanwhile, Angel Food Ministries board members and former employees have filed lawsuits accusing Angel Food leadership of using the non-denominational nonprofit as a moneymaking venture.
The Rev. Joseph Wingo and wife Linda founded the ministry in 1994 to help 34 families hurt by plant closings in the manufacturing town of Monroe, about 45 miles east of Atlanta.
Since then, Angel Food Ministries has grown to hundreds of workers supplying food for anti-poverty programs at more than 5,000 churches spanning several denominations. There are 473 distribution centers listed in Georgia and more than 1,400 concentrated in Texas, Missouri, Tennessee and Pennsylvania.
All told, the ministry says it serves more than 500,000 families a month. It has no plans to interrupt food delivery.
Families typically order multi-meal boxes of meatballs, ham and other staples from monthly menus, spending roughly $30 for an estimated $65 worth of groceries, Angel Food says. Later, they collect boxes at churches that are rewarded with at least $1 for every box delivered.
At Ebenezer United Methodist Church in Conyers, administrative assistant Glenda Evans said leaders are sticking by Angel Food. "Hopefully it gets worked out," Evans said.
In 2006, the ministry reported revenue of $96 million dollars and $17 million in expenses. Tax records from that year show the Wingos and two of their sons earned a combined total in excess of $2.1 million for leading the ministry, up from just less than a combined $323,000 a year earlier.
Their combined salaries dipped to $501,472 in 2007, records showed.
Wingo did not respond to repeated AP requests to be interviewed.
In December, the salaries prompted a national Christian charity watchdog group to flag Angel Food as one of 30 ministries donors should avoid."One family for one year making ... more than the president of the United States of America is just kind of outrageous," said Rodney Pitzer, a top official at Wall Watchers. "That should be enough for donors to be concerned."
Two Angel Food board members alleged in a lawsuit last month that the Wingos enriched themselves by at least $2.7 million and sought to bar the Wingos from their Monroe headquarters. The board members accused the Wingos of directing $600,000 from Angel Food to their church as a "housing allowance."
In a settlement reached behind closed doors Friday, the Wingos agreed to an audit and to stopping questionable financial practices — like using corporate credit cards for personal expenses — in lieu of being barred from the premises, according to Thomas Rogers, an attorney representing the board members.
Attorneys representing the Wingos would not reveal further details of the settlement, and the Wingos themselves declined to comment.
A statement on Angel Food's Web site called the lawsuit an effort "by two directors who are interested in removing the founders of the ministry — Pastors Joe and Linda Wingo — only to install themselves in the founders place. This is a power grab."
In an earlier statement, Angel Food portrayed the FBI's Feb. 11 search as part of an "investigation of an individual or individuals connected to the organization, and not regarding the ministry itself."
In disputing the suit, Angel Food said it has been "a model corporate citizen," donating $5.2 million to more than 5,000 communities in 2008.
Luke Erickson, a pastor at Mountain Christian Church near Baltimore, Md., said church leaders like himself received an explanation from the ministry for the high salaries."They've invested a lot in it ... there was some kind of compensation given back to them by Angel Food and it was reflected in a large salary in one year," Erickson said.
Finances of prominent ministries have come under scrutiny of late, including a Senate probe begun last year of claims of extravagant spending by some leaders of Christian broadcast ministries nationwide.
The FBI involvement in the Angel Food case could imply far more than just overpaid staff, said Dean Zerbe, former senior counsel with the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.Though not involved with the Angel Food case, Zerbe said, "If you have ... the FBI knocking on your door of a charity, you've got issues beyond just paying a fellow too much."
FBI officials had no comment Wednesday, and no charges have been filed.In Georgia, Donna Foster attends Emmanuel Praise — the Wingos' church — and her son works at Angel Food. Recently, "Pastor Joe found out I was unemployed and he sent me a box of food."
She blamed honest mistakes for any perceived financial mix-ups."There are some people you can tell if they're faking it," Foster said. "You can tell that these people are real."
(AP)
A Columbus patrol officer was placed on administrative leave after the FBI accused her of aiding a bank robbery.
Shatoya Wright was arrested Monday afternoon and charged with making false statements to the FBI.
Agents said a man charged with robbing a Wachovia Bank in Oct. 2007 told them Wright helped him steal $8,000 during the heist. Accused bank robber Odis Christopher Hallstock said Wright also helped him pass counterfeit $100 bills through the bank.
Columbus Police Chief Ricky Boren said Wright was hired 3 months after the robbery and passed all background checks.
Wright made her initial court appearance Tuesday and was released on $5,000 bond.
Information from: WTVM-TV, http://www.wtvm.com/
(AP)
A Georgia man is accused of threatening to blow up FBI buildings nationwide.
Gregory Jones, special agent in charge of the FBI in Atlanta, said Friday 23-year-old Michael Robert DeJong of Buford was arrested Wednesday morning, one week after the threat was made on the FBI.gov Web site.
DeJong is in custody pending a probable cause and bond hearing on Tuesday.
DeJong was arrested at a friend's home in Auburn, Ga., after agents traced the threat to a publicly available computer in the Auburn library. Examining the computer contents, agents were led to DeJong, who they learned had been convicted of threats against President Bush in 2007.
The threat did not specify which FBI offices would be targeted other than that the bomber would start with Atlanta.
(AP)
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Two women protesters shouted at Rev. Rick Warren shortly after he began his keynote sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in downtown Atlanta Monday.
One of the women, seen here pointing in the air, waved a yellow scarf, as she shouted, "Rick Warren is a bigot, Rick Warren is a bigot," at Ebenezer Baptist Church during the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)
Security officials tore the scarf from the woman's hand during the altercation, which took place shortly before 1:00 PM and quickly hustled both out of the sanctuary.
A few moments later, two male protesters stood up and turned their backs to Warren, and were also escorted out of the building.
The identity of the protesters was unclear, although several dozen demonstrators with signs held a protest outside the church earlier against what they said was Warren's positions on gay rights and abortion.
The group was larger earlier in the morning, but dispersed, according to reports.
Security personnel hurry one of the women out of the sanctuary at Ebenezer Baptist Church during the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Day ceremonies on Monday, Jan. 19, 2009. (Photo: Dave Bender)
Police and Sheriff Department details, and FBI and Homeland Security personnel showed a heavy presence in the vicinity of the church, and closed off streets surrounding the building.
Dozens of dignitaries attended the service, including Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss, who gave a brief address.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking for a few good men and women in Georgia - not as fugitives, but rather to join the force.
It's the largest FBI recruiting effort since the terror attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.
FBI Special Agent Steve Lazarus of the Atlanta Field Office says that while he couldn't provide figures of how may spots were in Georgia, he said the agency employs over 30,000 personnel nationwide, and that 13,000 of them were gun and badge-carrying agents.
The law-enforcement agency's posted openings for over 2,000 positions nationwide; from accountants and auto mechanics, to nurses, linguists and cyberspooks.
Eight hundred and fifty of the spots are for special agents.
"I'm finding from my students that are going out there for employment; that even though this is a very, very tough time, that many agencies are experiencing vacancies because there's this new mandate to do something about terrorism, and -- their established workforce -- many of them are reaching the retirement age."The agency has 56 field offices nationwide.
The FBI says suspects in a series of bank robberies in metro Atlanta have been arrested, including three in Mississippi. Gregory Jones, head of the FBI in Atlanta, says 22-year-old Shantavia Glass of Lithonia surrendered to DeKalb County police after widespread distribution of photographs following Wednesday's holdup of a Bank of America in Lithonia. McComb, Mississippi police arrested 18-year-old William Berk Harrold of Lithonia, accompanied by a 20-year-old woman, after a traffic stop about 4 a.m. Friday. That led to arrests of 20-year-old Zachery Antonio Harris of Ellenwood and a 16-year-old Duluth male suspect at a McComb hotel. They are wanted in four DeKalb and Gwinnett County robberies over the past two weeks.
(Associated Press)
The United States Department of Justice will be monitoring elections in Georgia. The U.S. Attorney's Middle District office in Macon will be staffed by an assistant U.S. attorney on Election Day, until the polls close. He will be responsible for handling any complaints by voters and election officials. The FBI will also have special agents available in field offices across the state to help handle allegations of fraud and voter suppression. The Northern and Southern Districts will have similar staff on hand.
The Sunday meeting is taking place at Dalton High School. Officials and members of the state's crisis response team are on hand. Organizers are encouraging law enforcement, emergency personnel, counselors and teachers to attend.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation bomb technician works on a a bomb robot near the scene of a bomb blast in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. Four people were injured when a bomb went off in a law office. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
The Dalton police chief and district attorney are meeting with the public to discuss the Friday bombing of a law firm in the small north Georgia town.
An F.B.I. agent searches property belonging to the suspect in the explosion at a small-town law firm in northern Georgia in Dalton, Ga., Friday, Oct. 17, 2008. The suspect died in the blast that also injured four people at the office, authorities said. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
A bitter family dispute over property erupted Friday when 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell threw an explosive into a law firm that represented his son, causing a blast that killed the father and injured four people in the office. One victim, attorney Jim Phillips, is in critical condition at an Augusta burn center.
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(The Associated Press)
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Changes to the state's gun laws could be in the works as the State Senate Firearms Committee looks at re-writing House Bill 89, passed earlier this year. One proposal under consideration … speeding up the application permit process. In a working copy of a revised gun bill, the Senate is considering cutting in half the number of days probate judges must get permits to would-be gun owners after fingerprints have been cleared by the FBI and the GBI. Current law says ten days. The proposal now being considered is five days. If a licensed is not issued within five days, the gun owner can sue.
William Self is Bibb County's probate judge. He also chairs the Georgia Probate Judges Council. He opposes the switch."I am quite frankly gentlemen, at a complete loss to understand why probate judges became the apparent enemies of gun rights' advocates."
Testifying before the Senate Firearms Safety Committee on Tuesday, Self asked lawmakers to remove the threat of lawsuits from gun enthusiast now hanging over the heads of the state 159 probate judges."This is the only statue I know of in the entire state of Georgia which purports to award attorneys fees to a plaintiff without any defense whatsoever if 10 days have expired from receipt of the reports."
Among other changes the committee will consider is including some misdemeanor offenses currently now trigger a reject on a gun permit application."There are literally hundreds of misdemeanors under GA law, which even with multiple convictions, do not by themselves disqualify an applicant, such as assault and battery, third degree cruelty to children…"
Here's how state Senator Don Balfour of Snellville responded to the testimony."Some of those things seem like whoa, we missed that one? Wow. Some of those we ought to think about putting under there."
The Senate committee now wants a list of misdemeanors to consider as part of the law. Meanwhile another idea is to leave judges completely out of the gun license procedure and hand it over to the Secretary of State. One drawback say Probate Judges is that the Secretary of State's office is not a law enforcement agency. Finally, a representative from the Georgia Council of Probate Court Judges asked the committee to consider raising gun permit application fees above the current $15, to cover actual administrative and processing costs. The Senate committee is expected to make recommendation to changes in Georgia gun laws by January.