MOULTRIE, Ga. — When one thinks about unusual happenings in a cemetery, it often involves conjuring up mental ghosts and spirits of the dead or nocturnal activities that take place around the stroke of midnight.

For city and county drug agents, however, their recent encounter was in the daylight hours and involved three figures bagging up tobacco for smuggling into Colquitt County’s prison complex.

In addition to tobacco, officers said they also seized a cell phone and recovered marijuana that had been dropped off at another location inside Westview Cemetery in southwest Moultrie. The three Colquitt County Correctional Institute inmates charged in the case were working for the city of Moultrie to keep up the cemetery grounds.

“We received information that there was (contraband) being dropped in Westview Cemetery,” said Inv. Jerome Burgess of the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office’s Drug Enforcement Team. “County County Drug Enforcement Team agents and Moultrie Police Department Inv. Freddie Williams investigated.”

During their work, which included surveillance of the area, officers encountered the three inmates on Jan. 3 in the storage shed at the cemetery.

“They were packaging tobacco for concealment on their bodies to carry into the prison later that day,” Burgess said. 

Further investigation turned up about a quarter-pound of suspected marijuana in a trash can on the cemetery grounds. 

Officers located the suspected marijuana after reading text messages on a cell phone found on one of the inmates, Burgess said. The inmate and the person who delivered the package had exchanged texts about the drop-off. 

An officer also called the phone number the text came from and spoke with the person who answered. Police are still seeking that suspect.

Burgess took arrest warrants late Friday afternoon charging each of the inmates with multiple felonies.

They are Christopher Rogers, 30, Alphonso McElroy, 29, and Lazester Owens, 49. 

The full list of charges was not immediately available, but includes possession of items prohibited by inmate and various charges related to conspiracy to possesss and distribute the tobacco and suspected marijuana. 

Some inmates from the prison are used by Colquitt County and the city to perform various labor. Officials have charged several inmates over the past year with using their outside activities to smuggle drugs, tobacco and cell phones into the prison. Officials say it is a lucrative business.

Burgess estimated that a package of Bugler loose tobacco that can be purchased for $2 on the outside will fetch some $20 when sold to other inmates. Prisoners use prepaid money cards to facilitate the transactions.

In January 2016 the Georgia Department of Corrections broke up a ring of prisoners using cell phones to pull off scams on the public. One involved inmates calling individuals, pretending to be court officials. They told victims that they had missed jury duty and demanded immediate payment of a “fine” with the threat that they would be arrested if they failed to do so.

Prison officials said the inmates, many incarcerated at Autry State Prison in Pelham, had been ripping off victims from at least January 2013 through October 2015. In a raid that included emptying the Pelham facility for a search by some 200 officers and subsequent arrests, law enforcement arrested 51 inmates, prison employees and former prison employees.

In addition to scam operations, prison officials told The Observer at the time that illegally acquired phones can be made to set up the delivery of drugs, tobacco and other contraband and even to order associates on the outside to murder potential witnesses or rivals.

Staff Reports

MOULTRIE — The Moultrie-Colquitt County Chamber of Commerce announced on Friday the promotion of interim president Tommie Beth Willis to the position of president, effective Jan. 1. She has served as interim president since April 1, 2016.  

Willis began her career at the Chamber as vice president of marketing/tourism in October 2014.

She will devote all her efforts on community involvement, promotion efforts and membership benefits along with managing daily operations and the staff of the Chamber of Commerce. 

“We are all excited and feeling positive about this change. Tommie Beth brings much marketing and management experience,” said Chamber Chairman Nicole Gilbert. 

Willis will work with the chamber board and staff to enhance communications with its members, increase the chamber’s membership, coordinate programs and events, and promote Moultrie and Colquitt County. 

“I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to serve in this position,” Willis said. “Our community is seeing a lot of growth and progress. I look forward to working with our members and promoting our great community.” 

Willis is a native of the Norman Park community and a graduate of Colquitt County High School. She is a member of Heritage Church.

Staff Reports

MOULTRIE — Ag classes at Colquitt County High School are wasting no time getting busy this year. 

Two of the classes, ag mechanics and animal science, have combined forces. The ag mechanics class is using the skills they have learned to construct a chicken coop that the animal science class will use to raise chickens. 

“In my experience, the best way to prepare someone for life is by teaching them skills they will use throughout life,” said Stacy Beacham, the ag mechanics teacher. “Not only are my students learning skills such as construction and welding that they can always use to make a living, but they are also learning how to work together with others to accomplish a common goal and finish within a given period of time.” 

“I am really excited to be able to teach hands on with my students,” said Jesse Boland, the animal science teacher. “Poultry is one of the largest agricultural industries in Georgia, and it is an awesome opportunity for the students to be able to experience every step in poultry production from incubation to sale.”

Chickens are not all that Boland has been busy with, either. Bees are another new addition to the high school. Wildlife Management students are responsible for the upkeep and care of the bees, and they even decorated the hives. 

“We have two hives here on campus,” Boland said, “and it is super beneficial for the students to be able to experience the inner workings of a beehive, especially when bees play such an important role in agriculture. I hope we are able to grow the beehives to the point where we can profit from the honey as a fundraiser.”

Meanwhile, the horticulture class has been producing eggplants. The plugs were donated by Wilder Plant Company. Horticulture students are growing them in raised beds that ensure access to fertile soil for the plants. Once the eggplants are ready for harvest they will be eaten by the agriculture students. 

“I love the fact that I am able to get my students trying new food and learning a life-long skill such as gardening,” horticulture teacher Adrienne Smith said.