3 more arrested in RICO case
They face charges in connection with a multi-million dollar theft from Floyd County Schools.
Floyd County police have made three additional arrests in connection with the long Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization case that victimized Floyd County Schools.
According to Floyd County Jail reports: Charles Raiden Sherman, 70, of 15 Rosalyn Drive, was booked into the Floyd County Jail early Thursday and charged with felony theft by taking and a RICO violation. David Gary English, 38, of Hoschton, and Rodney Don Holder, 46, of Dahlonega, were booked into the Floyd County jail early Thursday around 8 a.m. on felony theft by taking, bribery and RICO charges.
The theft by taking charge on Sherman stems from an incident where he was the party to a crime that saw him produce fraudulent invoices that took over $50,000 from the Floyd County Board of Education while he was working as a manager at City Electric Supply, according to a warrant for his arrest. The invoices were produced between August 2009 and November 2011, the warrant states.
A second RICO warrant for Sherman’s arrest states he committed racketeering on at least two occasions to defraud the Floyd County Board of Education by producing fraudulent invoices over the same two-year period.
English, an owner of Southeastern Security Professionals, is accused of taking more than $60,000 with the intent of depriving the county schools of the funds over a period of time from September 2011 through December 2014.
He allegedly violated the RICO Act by being a part of a scheme with the intent to defraud the Floyd County Board of Education over a threeyear period of time.
He is also alleged to have bribed former Floyd County School Mainte- nance Director Derry Richardson with money and Atlanta Hawks basketball tickets to gain preferential treatment for work at the Floyd County Board of Education.
The bribery and RICO allegations filed against Holder, who was identified as a part owner of Southeastern Security Professionals, were essentially the same as those filed against English.
The warrant for theft by taking against Holder alleges that while he was employed by Johnson Controls, he produced fraudulent invoices that caused the theft of more than $300,000 from the Floyd County schools from July of 2008 through 2014.
In June 2016, then Floyd County Schools’ maintenance director Derry Richardson and nine other alleged co-conspirators were arrested and charged with inflating and falsifying invoices paid by the school system.
They are each charged with violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and other crimes.
Sherman and English were released Friday on $25,000 bonds, while Holder was freed on a $30,000 bond.