CHATSWORTH, Ga. — At his unlicensed residential substance abuse recovery center, he promised inmates — mostly female — sentenced on drug charges an alternative to more jail time. He offered the hope of recovery from their addictions. What they found at Rise Above Recovery center in Murray County was not a sanctuary nor the hope of recovery they were promised.

Instead, they found filthy living conditions and “a dangerous sexual predator,” according to the district attorney.

Jeffery Wayne Bully, formerly of Chatsworth, was found guilty in Superior Court Wednesday of raping women and other sexual assaults at the facility and was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A jury of nine men and three women found Bully guilty on 10 of the 14 counts against him, and Superior Court Judge Cindy Morris sentenced him to four life sentences for the rapes and 50 years added to the back end of the sentence for a variety of sexual assault charges.

Prosecutors showed Bully sent solicitation letters to inmates incarcerated in jails around the state offering enrollment in the programs to fulfill conditions of probation on substance abuse charges as an alternative to further jail time. However, instead of receiving help with their addiction Bully took advantage of his position and used the facility as perfect way to lure women who he later sexually assaulted, according to prosecutors.

The trial began last Monday at the Murray County courthouse and was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ben Kenemer.

District Attorney Bert Poston said the jury found Bully not guilty on one of five rape charges — because the victim was unable to testify — and three of the charges were dropped by the prosecution.

“Because of the efforts of concerned citizens in Murray County, and of law enforcement personnel from the Murray County Sheriff’s Office to the (Federal Bureau of Investigations) and within the District Attorney’s office, a dangerous sexual predator was brought to justice and will no longer have the opportunity to victimize women in this or any other community,” Poston said in a press release Thursday evening. “Mr. Kenemer would like to thank everyone involved in this effort including especially the women who courageously came forward and testified about these terrible events. We would also like to thank the jurors who served in this case and who held Mr. Bully accountable for his crimes.”

The total sentencing with the verdict included two life sentences to run concurrent with each other and two other life sentences on top consecutively.

Bully was convicted of raping four women and was also found guilty of four counts of sexual assault, one count of sexual battery and one count of aggravated sodomy. Poston said 12 women testified either as direct victims of assault or as witnesses. The indictment handed down in 2015 identified seven victims. After the indictment, District Attorney Investigator Kevin Caylor identified other victims, but the release noted not all were assaulted in Murray County.

Murray County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jimmy Davenport was the lead investigator on the case with assistance from FBI Agent Bryant Hill and Caylor.

The investigation began in December 2014 when it was determined Bully was operating an unlicensed recovery program in Murray County, according to the release. Bully fled Murray County and was arrested in Durant, Okla., in August 2015. After tracking Bully down, Caylor contacted local law enforcement in Oklahoma and arrangements were made to trick Bully into coming to a location where he was arrested. The release said Bully was doing construction work and was lured to a “job site” to quote a price.

Kenemer called 39 witnesses and tendered 80 exhibits into evidence including Bully’s three prior felony convictions from Oklahoma, which became admissible once Bully took the witness stand.

Dalton attorney Mike Corbin represented Bully. Corbin has not responded to messages left in the past seeking comment on the case.

A second man indicted in connection to the case — Bobby Edwards of Jasper — faces two counts of sexual assault of a probationer and a sexual battery charge. His next calendar call is in October.