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Teacher's son sentenced to prison for stealing retirement money

Teacher's son sentenced to prison for stealing retirement money

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- The son of a retired Atlanta schoolteacher has been sentenced in Gwinnett County Superior Court to two years in prison after being found guilty of violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Levon Chett Barrett pleaded guilty to the charge against him. He will spend one year on house arrest and seven on probation after serving his time in prison.

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According to Georgia Attorney General's spokeswoman Lauren Kane, Barrett's mother died in September 2007, but Barrett continued to collect her retirement benefits until February 2010.

Dragon*Con founder jailed in Gwinnett

Dragon*Con founder jailed in Gwinnett

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Edward Kramer, co-founder of the popular Dragon*Con convention, has been extradited to Georgia from Connecticut on a child molestation charge.

Kramer, 51, is being held in the Gwinnett County Detention Center.

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He was arrested Sept. 13, 2011 for violating conditions of his bond on child molestation charges. Kramer was taken into custody at a hotel room in Milford, Conn., that he was sharing with a 14-year-old boy.

Kramer was first charged with child molestation in Georgia 12 years ago. He was under house arrest until 2008, when a judge gave him permission to travel.

Teen pedestrian hit, killed in Gwinnett

Teen pedestrian hit, killed in Gwinnett

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- A teenager was hit by a car and killed in unincorporated Gwinnett County Wednesday morning.

Seventeen-year-old Dakota Waters was struck on Lawrenceville Highway between Hamilton and James roads shortly before 7:30 a.m.

Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Edwin Ritter said Waters was crossing Lawrenceville Highway when he was hit by a Land Rover.

The driver, 49-year-old Sharon Mitchell-Golden, could not stop in time to avoid hitting Waters, who was not in a crosswalk, Ritter said.

The teen was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center, where he later died.

Mitchell-Golden was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and a turn lane violation. She turned herself in and was booked into the Gwinnett County Jail Thursday.

Ritter said the rainy weather was a factor in the accident, while speed and alcohol were not.

SPECIAL REPORT: Drug traffickers operating Sandy Springs rehab center

SPECIAL REPORT: Drug traffickers operating Sandy Springs rehab center

11Alive News has learned that two metro Atlanta men who recently pled guilty to federal drug trafficking charges have been operating a Sandy Springs facility for recovering addicts for several years.

In October, federal prosecutors announced the indictment of Drew T. Green, Thomas Malone Jr. and eight others for drug trafficking, money laundering and conspiracy, alleging they were operating one of the largest synthetic drug cartels in the country.

Federal prosecutors say Green and Malone's company Nutragenomics sold millions of dollars worth of chemicals used to manufacture so-called designer drugs like synthetic marijuana and bath salts.

"I've come to a point where I refuse to use the term synthetic marijuana. It gives these poisons too much credence," said Lance Dyer whose son Dakota committed suicide after smoking a synthetic marijuana product named "Mr. Miyagi."

 "These drugs are literally poisons."

Man who killed 4 accepts plea bargain

Man who killed 4 accepts plea bargain

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- A murder trial has come to an abrupt and unexpected end for a man accused of killing three adults and a girl during a bloody rampage at a Gwinnett County home in 2009.

Richard Ringold accepted a plea bargain Tuesday, moments before a 7-year-old girl who survived being shot was scheduled to testify against him.

Under terms of the plea deal, Ringold pleaded guilty to every crime in a 10-count indictment, allowing him to avoid the death penalty but spend life in prison. It brought Gwinnett County's first death penalty trial since 2005 to a close.

Ringold had earlier pleaded not guilty, claiming that he was playing video games with friends at the time of the killings.

Body found near Lawrenceville tennis court identified

Body found near Lawrenceville tennis court identified

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. -- Gwinnett County Police have identified the man whose body was found in a Lawrenceville neighborhood Tuesday night.

Detectives came across the body of 22-year-old Rashad Jones while they were responding to a report of shots fired in the River Stone subdivision at Bridge Walk Drive and Oak Road. His body was found near a tennis court.

Police said it appears his death had to do with some type of scam, but they did not release details.

Man arrested for trying to kidnap kids at football practice

Man arrested for trying to kidnap kids at football practice

LOGANVILLE, Ga. -- A Lawrenceville man was arrested at a Gwinnett County park Monday after he reportedly tried to kidnap two children at their football practice.

Witnesses told police that the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Jean Patrick Souffrant, was "acting strange" and approaching children as they played football at Bay Creek Park in Loganville, according to Gwinnett County Police Det. J.R. Flanagan.

Souffrant grabbed one of the children at the park concession stand and tried to drag him toward the bleachers. He released the child after being approached by a parent, Flanagan said.

The child told investigators he was afraid of what Souffrant wanted to do. Another child also said that Souffrant tried to grab him, and a witness who called 911 backed up their stories, according to Flanagan.