Rodriguez arrested in Delgado murder, extradition could mean trial in Georgia

Featured News, Featured Stories

CHERRY LOG, Ga. – Joint releases continue from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) as another arrest has been made for involvement with April 2021 murder of Rossana Delgado, this time for Juan Ayala-Rodriguez.

Reaching all the way back to the original warrants for their alleged involvement, the GBI, working in partnership with the United States Marshal’s Service (USMS) Atlanta and San Diego, coordinated the transfer to U.S. custody of Juan Ayala-Rodriguez, age 35, after his arrest in Mexico.

Rossana Delgado, Rodriguez

Rossana Delgado was discovered in April of 2021 in Cherry Log where she was allegedly murdered.

On April 24, 2021, FYN reported Rodriquez, of Gainesville, Georgia, along with three other suspects, as wanted in connection to the murder. Later, in May 2021, reports came of the arrest of two of those original four alongside a fifth suspect. Now, Rodriquez is the third of the original four arrested.

According to the GBI, “Rodriguez was arrested in Durango, Mexico on Saturday, June 26, 2021.  The USMS-San Diego and Customs and Border Protection oversaw the transfer of Rodriguez to USMS custody and subsequent detention at a California facility. Rodriguez is pending extradition to Georgia to face murder charges.”

No specific information is available on which court Rodriguez may face the charges in. Delgado was last seen in Doraville, Georgia on April 17, 2021. Her husband and authorities tracked her phone as a possible location of Delgado to Covington Highway, which is more on the southeastern side of Atlanta. Eventually, her body was found in a residence in Cherry Log, Georgia, in Northeast Gilmer County.

The GBI stated, “USMS and the United States Department of Homeland Security (HSI) have worked diligently to assist the GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office in this case and in this arrest.  The GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office are very grateful for the support and efforts of the USMS, HSI and all agencies involved in effecting this arrest.”

The GBI and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office continue to actively investigate this case and the individuals involved in the murder of Rossana Delgado.  With three of the four original warrants executed and in custody, the fifth suspect arrested and in custody, the GBI asserted that a coordinated effort to locate and arrest the other three murder suspects, Mario Alberto Barbosa-Juarez, Carolina Jazmin Rodriguez-Ramirez and Maria Chavez is active and ongoing.

As always, the GBI requests that anyone with information to please contact the GBI. Tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS(8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

Drug Task Force Officer Arrested

News

Jasper, Ga. – The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has arrested and released reports for warrants and booking for one Charles Daniel Hamrick.

According to the Arrest Warrant, Hamrick is accused of using his position as a peace officer to convince a person to send nude and semi-nude photos to him. The offense violates his oath as a public officer.

The warrant alleges that Hamrick convinced a lady that she was a confidential informant for him and that she could have potential criminal charges brought against her. He then allegedly told her that he had destroyed her confidential informant file in return for the photos.

Having been arrested and booked on the charges, Hamrick has since paid a $1,000 bond and been released. As the official charge states Violation of Oath by Public Officer, it is charged as “a violation of the Oath taken by Hamrick as a Deputy with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and the Deputy Commander of the Zell Miller Mountain Parkway Drug Task Force…”

Drug Task Force Officer Arrested

News

Jasper, Ga. – The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has arrested and released reports for warrants and booking for one Charles Daniel Hamrick.

According to the Arrest Warrant, Hamrick is accused of using his position as a peace officer to convince a person to send nude and semi-nude photos to him. The offense violates his oath as a public officer.

The warrant alleges that Hamrick convinced a lady that she was a confidential informant for him and that she could have potential criminal charges brought against her. He then allegedly told her that he had destroyed her confidential informant file in return for the photos.

Having been arrested and booked on the charges, Hamrick has since paid a $1,000 bond and been released. As the official charge states Violation of Oath by Public Officer, it is charged as “a violation of the Oath taken by Hamrick as a Deputy with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and the Deputy Commander of the Zell Miller Mountain Parkway Drug Task Force…”

 

U.S. Penitentiary Lt. Arraigned on Excessive Force and Obstruction of Justice Charges

State & National

U. S. PENITENTIARY LIEUTENANT ARRAIGNED ON EXCESSIVE FORCE

AND OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE CHARGES

ATLANTA – Lieutenant Gregory McLeod, a senior correctional officer at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, has been arraigned following an investigation of an allegation that McLeod used excessive force against an inmate in 2016.  McLeod was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 24, 2017, and has been charged with unnecessarily assaulting the inmate, writing two false official accounts about the encounter, and lying to federal investigators about his conduct.

“We recognize that detention officers have a difficult job as they maintain order and protect inmates in our nation’s prisons,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “This officer, however, allegedly abused his power, committed a violent and unnecessary assault on an inmate, and then filed a false report to cover up the incident.”

“The FBI continues to play a vital role in ensuring that all credible allegations of civil rights violations involving law enforcement officers are appropriately investigated.  That was certainly the case with U.S. Bureau of Prisons Lt. McLeod, wherein allegations of excessive force were received, resulting in a federal investigation, grand jury indictment, and today’s arraignment in federal court.  The FBI would like to remind the public, however, that the vast majority of law enforcement officers and corrections officers provide admirable services while often under stressful and time constrained situations,” said David J. LeValley, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the indictment, and other information presented in court:  McLeod, who worked as a supervisor at the prison, allegedly strip-searched an inmate in his office in front of three other correctional officers.  After the inmate complained that the strip-search was taking too long, McLeod repeatedly punched the inmate in his face, injuring him.  Following the assault, McLeod wrote an incident report and a separate memorandum about the encounter in which he falsely claimed that the inmate swung a closed fist at McLeod and attempted to assault other officers before the officers could apply hand and leg restraints.  The indictment charges that McLeod used excessive force and thereby violated the inmate’s constitutional rights. The indictment also accuses McLeod of intentionally impeding and obstructing the investigation of the incident by writing false reports and lying to two federal agents.

Gregory McLeod, 44, of East Point, Georgia, was arraigned on these charges during a hearing in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Catherine M. Salinas.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment only contains charges.  The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

This case is being investigated by the DOJ Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Alan Gray and DOJ Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Mary J. Hahn are prosecuting the case.

For further information please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at [email protected] or (404) 581-6016.  The Internet address for the home page for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.

Fannin Courts and the Focus 7/21/16

GMFTO

What’s going on now that the Case is dismissed?

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