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Search and recovery divers Monday found the last of three bodies in a Carroll County plane crash which happened early Sunday morning approximayely three miles from West Georgia University.
The body of the pilot, 51-year-old Brian Kearney, was recovered from the water today.
The bodies of his wife, Christa Kearney, 45, and another passenger, 40-year-old Timothy Miller, were recovered on Sunday. The couple were reportedly from Marietta, while Miller lived in Woodstock.
The Cessna 182 (similar to the one pictured) went down around 9 a.m., apparently headed to an airport where the three were then going to travel to the NASCAR race that was taking place at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Benjamin Wade Elliott, 26, of Winchester, Tennessee, and Connie Lee Buce, 42, of Woodstock, were sentenced this week by United States District Judge Thomas Thrash, Jr. on charges relating to a conspiracy to defraud more than 500 automobile dealerships and numerous banks throughout the United States of millions of dollars.
Elliott was sentenced to serve 9 years in federal prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $4.28 million in restitution, and Buce was sentenced to serve 4 years, 3 months in federal prison to be followed by 3 years of supervised release and also ordered to pay the $4.28 million in restitution. Elliott was convicted of these charges on Oct. 30, 2008, and Buce was convicted of these charges on Nov. 17, 2008, after each entered a guilty plea.
According to the information presented in court: From July 2006 through January 2007, Elliott owned and operated “300 UP Promotions Inc.” (300 UP), a Georgia corporation that sold direct-mail advertising services to automobile dealerships. Buce was the company’s CFO. The dealerships paid 300 UP in full, by check, before any advertising services were provided by 300 UP. Although the dealerships did not authorize 300 UP to debit their bank accounts electronically, Elliott and Buce stole millions of dollars from the dealerships’ bank accounts through the use of Automated Clearing House debits. Most of the dealerships promptly reviewed their bank statements and notified their banks of the unauthorized ACH debits.
As a result, those banks credited the dealerships’ accounts for the unauthorized debits, but the banks were not able to recover the funds from Elliott and Buce. The loss to the victim lending institutions is estimated at $9 million.
Elliott and Buce attempted to steal an additional $21 million but were thwarted when some of the victims complained to ACH about the unauthorized debts.
In what might be one for the record books, thieves hit the same store in Woodstock three times on Sunday, taking with them some $2,000 worth of merchandise.
According to Woodstock police, the Play N Trade store on Eagle Drive was hit three times Sunday morning, with the first break-in taking place just before 7:30 a.m. In less than an hour, thieves made two more runs through the store and took with them Guitar Hero kits, Wii and PlayStation games and an X Box 360.
A $500 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrests of the thieves.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Woodstock Police Department at (770) 592-6030.
Police in Cherokee County have arrested a 19-year-old male and charged him with more than a dozen counts of breaking and entering.
According to authorities, Austin Stovall, 19, of Woodstock, was taken into custody Wednesday night after police discovered two bags filled with digital cameras, iPods, and GPS units in Stovall’s car. A deputy first pulled Stovall over on Bells Ferry Road for a broken tail light.
Authorities think the items discovered in Stovall’s car came from at least 40 vehicle break-ins stretching back to October.
Stovall is charged with 16 counts of entering autos and is in the Cherokee Adult Detention Center.
Search and recovery divers Monday found the last of three bodies in a Carroll County plane crash which happened early Sunday morning approximayely three miles from West Georgia University.
