The following was taken from a press release distributed by the United States Attorney’s Office – Middle District of Georgia on March 19, 2024:
CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. – Two Georgia residents with lengthy criminal histories were sentenced to prison for their criminal involvement in separate armed drug trafficking investigations in the Middle District of Georgia.
Rodrick Taylor, aka “RT,” 40, of Athens, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 292 months in prison to be followed by four years of supervised release on March 13 in Case No. 3:20-CR-62-CAR after he pleaded guilty to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Antonio Reid, 48, of Walton County, Georgia, was sentenced as a career offender to serve 212 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on March 13 in Case No. 3:21-CR-25-CAR after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base.
U.S. District Judge C. Ashley Royal handed down the sentences. The defendants are not eligible for parole.
“These cases involve repeat felony offenders who disregarded the law time and again, endangering citizens and law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Both cases demonstrate how our office is teaming up with local, state and federal law enforcement across the Middle District of Georgia to identify those individuals who are causing the most chaos in their communities and hold them accountable for their crimes.”
According to court documents in the Taylor case, federal and local agents identified Taylor as a heroin dealer in the Athens community during a wiretap investigation into an armed drug trafficking organization controlled by Rickshun Willingham in 2019. During their investigation, FBI agents learned that Taylor assisted Willingham in a robbery of two kilograms of heroin in an Athens parking lot.
A search warrant was executed at Taylor’s Bogart, Georgia, home on May 27, 2020. Agents found a .40 caliber pistol, along with drug distribution items. Taylor has multiple prior felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.
FBI agents received information in Aug. 2020 that Taylor was selling heroin from his home and was bragging about having a new firearm and posting a video of himself with a Glock 9mm pistol at a shooting range on his social media account. A search warrant was executed at Taylor’s home on Sept. 24, 2020, and agents found a loaded 9mm Glock pistol, 105 grams of heroin as well as evidence that Taylor flushed heroin down the toilet before agents made entry into his home.
According to court documents in the Reid case, Monroe Police Department officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Reid’s vehicle on Oct. 5, 2020. When a police officer approached the vehicle, Reid sped away at a high rate of speed and eventually crashed into a curb and fled on foot into the woods.
An adult woman and a three-year-old child remained in Reid’s vehicle; both were physically unharmed and released from the scene. When located in the woods by an officer, Reid continued to resist arrest, but ultimately was taken into custody. Reid was in possession of crack cocaine.
Reid has multiple prior felony convictions including a 2014 conviction for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. As a result, Reid was sentenced as a career offender.
The Taylor case was investigated by the FBI Middle Georgia Safe Streets Gang Task Force, Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the DEA.
The Reid case was investigated by the Monroe Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison prosecuted the cases for the Government.