Sat 02/13 1A, 8A, Jump

Saturday, February 13, 2016 YOURThe NEWSPAPER [email protected] Courier• www.courier-herald.com Drawer B, Court Square Station, Dublin, Georgia Herald 31040 • 272-5522 Volume 102, No. 31, Pub. No 161860 May 24, would begin Jan. 1, School, which I support. It VAThe to Carl constructVinson VA Medical $10 million mental health building BoardLCBOE accepts proposal votes to 2018, toafter the extend current ES- must ESPLOST be done. The building Center has started the process PLOST ends Dec. 31, 2017. is old and in need of many for constructing a free-standing take back title to old West School board member Dr. renovations. However, if we mental health clinic on its cam- pus. LaurensBy SA NHighDY ASchoolLDRIDGE William R. Rowe cast the on- spend that much money on ly dissenting vote. He said he those facilities, then we Construction on the approx- The Laurens County imately 23,000 square foot fa- Board of Education in a 4-1 hates not to show support for should get more use from the ESPLOST, but he is op- them than we will if we start cility, which is estimated to cost decision Thursday voted to between $5 and $10 million, is ask the citizens of Laurens posed to using it to fund the construction on a new middle construction of one new mid- school as soon as possible. I currently in the pre-solicitation County to extend the one stage which lets prospective percent Educational Special dle school. want to delay that construc- "We will be spending $3-4 tion and use the ESPLOST contractors know that bids will Purpose Local Option Sales soon be accepted. Tax (ESPLOST). The new million to renovate the exist- ing Laurens County Middle tax, if approved by voters See LCBOE page 8a See VA page 8a A drawing provide by the VA of the new mental health building. Dublin man among 49 charged with Sweethearts for more than 70 years smugglingA Dublin man contrabandand more were intocharged prison federally in a than 45 other former Georgia wide-ranging conspiracy that Department of Corrections offi- involved drug trafficking, iden- cers and contract correctional tity theft, and credit card fraud. officers have been charged in Many of the alleged criminal ac- seven separate federal indict- tivities were committed inside ments with smuggling contra- Georgia state prisons. band into prisons and with ac- In total, this extensive oper- cepting bribe payments in ex- ation has resulted in charges change for providing protection against approximately 130 for drug deals that were part of prison employees, inmates, and a federal undercover operation. non-incarcerated co-conspira- According to a Northern Dis- tors. trict of Georgia U.S. Attorney's These cases are being inves- Office, Ethan Kilgore, 24, of tigated by the Federal Bureau Dublin, a Correctional Officer of Investigation, the Georgia at Dodge State Prison, has been Bureau of Investigation, and charged with accepting bribe the Georgia Department of Cor- payments to protect drug trans- rections Office of Professional actions and with attempted Standards. drug trafficking. “It’s troubling that so many Kewanda Love, 26, of officers from state correctional Cochran, formerly a Correction- institutions across Georgia al Officer at Pulaski State were willing to sell their badges Prison, was charged with ac- for personal payoffs from pur- cepting bribe payments to pro- ported drug dealers,” said U. S. tect drug transactions and with Attorney John Horn. “They attempted drug trafficking. The not only betrayed the institu- other people charged were from tions they were sworn to pro- Milledgeville and other prisons tect, but they also betrayed the throughout the state. ideals that thousands of honest, Previously, numerous others hard-working correctional offi- have been charged as part of cers uphold every day.” the overall investigation of the During a federal investiga- GA DOC. tion of Georgia Department of On Jan. 21, more than 50 Corrections employees and in- Photo by Dahlia Allen corrections employees, inmates mates, the FBI uncovered that and non-incarcerated co-con- correctional officers were smug- J. Roy (left) and Luella (right) stand in front of their wedding photo displayed in their home. The Rowlands have been married for 70 years. spirators were charged federal- gling contraband (liquor, tobac- ly with conspiring to commit co, cell phones) into state pris- wire fraud, conspiring to com- ons. Many of those contraband mit money laundering and ac- cell phones were then used by By DAHLIA ALLEN Learning to trust and being together In the summer of 1945, he came home cepting bribes to smuggle con- inmates to commit wire fraud, The J. Roy RowlandRowlands took Luella Price sayto are atʻtrustʼ the heart ofis their at relationship, heartto Wrightsvilleof relationship after six months in Eu- traband into prisons. Many of money laundering, identity their senior prom at Wrightsville High Luella said. “We’ve always done things rope. He was to have a month’s respite the alleged criminal activities theft and drug trafficking. School in 1943. They remember that he together,” she said. “When one of us before shipping out to the Pacific. How- were committed inside Georgia The operation also revealed wore a navy shirt and a white sport coat, starts something, the other joins in.” ever, on Aug. 6 – three days after he and state prisons. that numerous GA DOC offi- and she wore a beige dress. Even so, he said was surprised when she Luella married – the United States be- On Jan. 13, three GA DOC cers were willing to use their Two years later, the young soldier made television commercials for his first gan dropping bombs on Japan. inmates and 14 others were law enforcement credentials to came home on a month’s furlough and run for office. Luella waited at home until J. Roy charged federally with partici- protect what they believed were married his high school sweetheart. Last The Rowlands moved to Dublin from was discharged the following May. A pating in a wide-ranging drug drug deals involving multiple Aug. 3, they celebrated their 70th wed- Swainsboro in 1954. When Dr. J. Roy civilian again, he wanted to go back to trafficking conspiracy that op- kilograms of methampheta- ding anniversary. Rowland Jr. joined Dr. John Bell in what college. It didn’t work out quite that way. erated within several state pris- mine and cocaine. In a series of He says that when he looks at her, he later became the Medical Center, there “Everybody was trying to get into ons. Using contraband cellular undercover operations, more sees “my life.” She says that when she were five doctors practicing here. J. Roy school, so I worked as a mail carrier (in telephones inside of prison, and than 45 correctional officers looks at him, she sees “my life.” became the sixth. Johnson County) for about three employing a network of bro- used their law enforcement sta- Those 70 years have encompassed his Luella came to Dublin straight from months,” he said. kers, distributers, and runners tus to protect drug deals in ex- medical practice, service in the Georgia the Swainsboro hospital. Their third Finally, he was accepted at South outside of prison, GDOC in- change for thousands of dollars House of Representatives and then 12 child, Jim (James Roy III) was five days Georgia College, and the still-newlywed mates controlled and managed in cash bribe payments. years in Washington after he was elected old. Lou and Jane were just little girls. Rowlands moved to Douglas. After two the distribution of illegal nar- During the undercover in- to the U.S. House of Representatives in “My mother-in-law did all the packing,” quarters there, he transferred to the cotics throughout the Atlanta- vestigation, the correctional of- 1982. Luella said. University of Georgia. Five quarters lat- metropolitan area and the ficers generally wore their uni- “I couldn’t have done anything with- J. Roy had enrolled as a pre-med stu- er, he went to The Medical College of southeast region of the United forms or had their badges in an out her,” he said. “Any successes I may dent at Emory at Oxford after high Georgia in Augusta. States. effort to avoid law enforcement have had have been because of her. She school graduation. However, with World While he was a medical student, Luel- On Sept. 24, 2015, 12 prison scrutiny. always held back until she was needed. War II in full swing, he dropped out after la was a lab technician in the bacteriolo- employees, inmates, and others Then she was right there.” two quarters and enlisted in the Army. See ROWLANDS page 3a Local floral, gift shops Laurens Co. man arrested preparingBy KELLY LENZ for ValentineʼsHenry added that the Day second forBy PmarijuanaAYTON TOWNS III possessionFuqua's house, finding mari- Business was booming at most popular rose color behind A Laurens County man juana. Christy’s Floral & Gifts in red, are the red roses with yel- was arrested after Laurens The value of the drugs East Dublin Thursday after- low tips or Confetti roses. County Sheriff's deputies seized was $3,000. noon as Valentine’s Day ap- Their next most popular found approximately one- "That's a significant proaches. rose bouquet was a mix of and-a-half pounds of mari- amount," said Laurens “It’s getting really busy, but white and red roses. Surpris- juana in his house this week. County Sheriff Bill Harrell. of course, most of them are ingly, she said that this year Kevin Fuqua, of Werden "I'm glad they were able to waiting until the last minute,” they have not gotten many or- Road, was charged with pos- get the drugs off the street." said owner Christy Henry.

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