News

Todd Burkhalter, the founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Georgia-based financial advisory group Drive Planning LLC (“Drive Planning”), was sentenced today to serve 20 years in federal prison, the maximum allowed by law, for orchestrating a years-long Ponzi scheme that resulted in thousands of investors losing nearly $400 million. Two other top executives of Drive Planning, David Bradford and Julie Edwards, were sentenced to federal prison earlier this week for their roles in the scheme.

Pedro Guadarrama Loza, a convicted felon and previously deported illegal alien from Mexico, faces federal drug trafficking and immigration charges after the seizure of more than 275 pounds of methamphetamine shipped from Mexico.

Walter Lee Muhammad, a multi-convicted drug trafficker whose 2020 sentence for fentanyl trafficking was commuted by former President Joe Biden in December 2024, appeared in federal court today on a new fentanyl-trafficking charge filed in the Northern District of Georgia. 

Gabriel Ojeda Murguia, a violent criminal with a history of hurting other people, was sentenced to nine years in prison after his conviction for trafficking over 25 kilograms of fentanyl and other drugs in the Atlanta area.

Zhu Chen, the owner of Cartersville-based flooring manufacturer Wellmade Industries; his nephew, Jiayi Chen; and Jianjun Lu, a Chinese national, face federal charges of forced labor, conspiracy to commit forced labor, and alien harboring arising from alleged illegal operations at Wellmade Industries. 

Reginald Pierce, a twice-convicted felon, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on federal drug and weapons charges after possessing a fully automatic machine-gun while dealing fentanyl and other drugs. 

Following an eight-day trial, a federal jury convicted Babajide Adesayo of laundering over $2.7 million obtained from victims of romance fraud and other types of online scams.

Norman Dixson, a convicted drug dealer who fraudulently obtained federal pandemic relief money to fund his lifestyle, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for promoting dogfighting. 

Tracy Daryl Mingo, who came to be known as a “master of disguise,” was arraigned today on federal charges after he allegedly robbed ten Atlanta-area businesses at gunpoint from October 2025 to January 2026. 

An indictment unsealed today in the Northern District of Georgia charges Jonathan Eric Gardiner, a convicted felon and Bahamian national, with federal drug importation and conspiracy offenses. U.S. officials arrested Gardiner after rescuing him from the Atlantic Ocean following a plane crash on May 14, 2026. 

Rogelio Moises Rosel Dimas, an illegal alien from Mexico, appeared in federal court yesterday to answer a criminal complaint after the alleged discovery of a handgun in his Stockbridge, Georgia home and a hidden fentanyl stash in nearby woods.

Sharon Henderson, a suspended member of the Georgia House of Representatives, pled guilty today in federal court to making false statements to fraudulently obtain thousands of dollars of emergency pandemic-era unemployment assistance payments.