Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office and GBI arrest 19 in sex crimes operation
Columbus investigators partnered with other agencies to arrest 19 people in a human trafficking sting, Muscogee County Sheriff Greg Countryman announced Wednesday.
“Operation Lights Out” was conducted Friday through Monday and led to 19 arrests of suspects ranging in age from 21 to 68 years old, Countryman said during a news conference. One of the suspects is a former candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives, the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office said. The sheriff’s office worked with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to run the operation.
“This operation targeted those willing to exploit children by purchasing sex with a minor,” Countryman said. “These sick predators targeted both boys and girls.”
“Our efforts to bring an end to predators targeting children will not stop until they stop preying on our children,” Countryman said.
Countryman asked parents to closely monitor their children and what they do on computers.
GBI Special Agent in Charge Brian Johnston said law enforcement officers were the people conducting the conversations with the suspects. Johnston said the Georgia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force has a program in place called “undercover chat investigations.”
“There were no children at harm at all in this,” Johnston said. “In these proactive investigations, even though we don’t put any child at harm, we feel like we were doing a very good job for the community in identifying those that want to go after our children.”
Johnston said the GBI trains members of the task force to operate in an undercover capacity on the internet.
Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly said 16 of the people arrested had their preliminary hearings in court Monday. The judge found probable cause to continue the cases against all 16 people who appeared in court Monday and each was held without bond, Kelly said.
Kelly said the other three arrested suspects had their preliminary hearings Wednesday. He said he didn’t yet know the results from those hearings.
“We take these crimes very seriously,” Kelly said. “We will prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law,” Kelly said.
Kelly addressed any concern that this investigation may have involved entrapment.
“In this operation, we used individuals who were specifically trained to be able to carry on chats in a way that would not lead to entrapment,” he said. “In every case, the perpetrator initiated the conversation with the child, the perpetrator started talking about sex.”
Countryman confirmed one of the 19 people arrested in the operation was former Democratic nominee for Georgia House District 139, Carl Sprayberry. The Columbus chef was charged with human trafficking, according to the sheriff’s office.
The other 18 people and their charges are:
Isael Alvarez, 43, of Columbus
Human trafficking
ICE detainer
Marquise Anderson, 37, of Seale, Alabama
Human trafficking
Darnell Brooks, 40, of Box Springs
Human trafficking
Roger Burkes, 62, of Columbus
Computer or electronic porn and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007
Javious Davenport, 30, of LaGrange
Human trafficking
Kevin Edosmwan, 38, of Atlanta
Computer or electronic porn and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007
Jonathan Evans, 46, of LaGrange
Human trafficking
Galvin Latrell Gordey, 44, of Pittsview
Human trafficking
Muhammed Gwandu, 68, of Ontario, Canada
Human trafficking
ICE detainer
Gene Melner, 37, of Palatine, Illinois
Human trafficking
Greggory Corbitt Meeks, 45, of LaGrange
Human trafficking
Colton Lee McLamb, 23, of Valley, Alabama
Computer or electronic porn and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007
Zidarius Poole, 21, of Columbus
Computer or electronic porn and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007
Hunter Salmi, 22, of Phenix City, Alabama
Computer or electronic porn and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 2007
Marco Antonio Santos Chavez, 30, of Fort Payne, Alabama
Human trafficking
ICE detainer
Anthony Seldon, 34, of Columbus
Human trafficking
Fleeing and attempting to elude
Reckless driving
Willful obstruction of law enforcement officers
Cameron Shelley, 25, of Columbus
Human trafficking
Jungmok Shin, 33, of Phenix City, Alabama
Human trafficking