Tag: Atlanta
Todd Burkhalter, Ponzi Scheme, Georgia 2020
⏱ 3 min read Todd Burkhalter, the CEO of Georgia-based financial advisory group Drive Planning, orchestrated a massive $380 million Ponzi scheme that duped thousands of investors across the country. Between September 2020 and June 2024, Burkhalter and his cohorts marketed fake investment opportunities, including the ‘Real Estate Acceleration Loan’ and ‘Cash Out Real Estate…
Gabriel Ojeda Murguia, Fentanyl Trafficking, Georgia 2024
⏱ 2 min read Gabriel Ojeda Murguia, a notorious drug dealer with a history of violence, was caught trafficking over 25 kilograms of fentanyl and other drugs in the Atlanta area between April 2024 and April 2025. Murguia, also known as ‘Taliban’, sold fentanyl and methamphetamine in Gwinnett County, putting countless lives at risk for…
Babajide Adesayo, Money Laundering, Georgia 2020
⏱ 2 min read Babajide Adesayo, an Atlanta man, was convicted of laundering over $2.7 million stolen from victims of online fraud, including romance scams, between April 2020 and September 2021. Adesayo was part of a complex transnational network that preyed upon elderly victims, siphoning their retirement savings overseas to China, Hong Kong, and Nigeria.…
Reginald Pierce, Fentanyl Trafficking, Georgia 2023
⏱ 2 min read Reginald Pierce, a twice-convicted felon, was dealing fentanyl and other drugs in Atlanta, Georgia, while armed with a fully automatic machine gun. On May 30, 2023, a Fulton County Sheriff’s Office investigator stopped a vehicle in which Pierce was a passenger. Pierce attempted to flee and tackled the investigator, but was…
Jonathan Eric Gardiner, Cocaine Importation and Conspiracy, Georgia 2026
⏱ 2 min read A Bahamian national, Jonathan Eric Gardiner, has been charged with federal cocaine importation and conspiracy offenses after a dramatic plane crash rescue in the Atlantic Ocean on May 14, 2026. Gardiner, a convicted felon, allegedly coordinated the delivery of massive quantities of cocaine into the Northern District of Georgia and elsewhere.…
Tracy Daryl Mingo, Armed Robbery, Georgia 2025
⏱ 2 min read Tracy Daryl Mingo, dubbed the Master of Disguise, terrorized Atlanta-area businesses with nearly a dozen armed robberies from October 20, 2025, to January 1, 2026. Mingo allegedly targeted store employees at gunpoint, donning various disguises to evade identification. The string of robberies spanned multiple cities, including College Park, Decatur, East Point,…
Sharon Henderson, False Statements, Georgia 2023
⏱ 2 min read Sharon Henderson, a suspended member of the Georgia House of Representatives, has pleaded guilty to making false statements to obtain thousands of dollars in emergency pandemic-era unemployment assistance payments in Atlanta. While running for and holding political office, Henderson was fleecing taxpayers, lying to steal money from federal programs intended to…
Guillermo Cruz Velazquez, Handgun Discharge, Georgia 2026
⏱ 2 min read An illegal alien from Mexico, Guillermo Cruz Velazquez, was traveling on a MARTA bus in Sandy Springs, Georgia, on July 22, 2026, when a handgun allegedly located in his bag discharged a single round, striking a female passenger and himself. The shooting occurred when the firearm, which was not supposed to…
Silvano Mendoza-Valencia, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Georgia 2026
⏱ 2 min read In a massive blow to methamphetamine traffickers, federal agents seized over 280 pounds of the deadly drug, along with more than four pounds of fentanyl, in a series of operations across metro Atlanta. The busts, which took place on July 21 and 22, 2026, also netted two illegally possessed firearms and…
Ronald Deabler, Money Laundering, Georgia 2023
⏱ 2 min read Ronald Deabler, a former Certified Public Accountant, has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for his role in laundering $5.3 million stolen from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The theft occurred in June 2023, when a hacker gained access to the email system of a commercial furniture vendor for the…
