Archived News

Lithonia man sentenced for drug trafficking

A former Fulton County deputy sheriff who accepted bribes of more than $2,000 to distribute cocaine inside and outside the Fulton County Jail was sentenced June 26 in U.S. District Court to serve 41 months in federal prison, according to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates.

Marvie Trevino Dingle Jr., 36, of Lithonia, had pleaded guilty Nov. 8, 2011 to attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine and to accepting bribes to facilitate cocaine distribution.

Dingle’s 41-month prison sentence will be followed by supervised release for two years.  According to court documents, on March 21, 2011, Dingle, while employed as a deputy sheriff at the Fulton County Jail, accepted $700 from an undercover agent to deliver seven grams of a substance he believed to be cocaine to an inmate inside the jail.  One month later he accepted $1,500 from an undercover agent to assist in delivering a kilogram of a substance he believed to be cocaine to a man in the Dunwoody area. 

Transportation public forum set for July 2

A public forum on the Transportation Local Option Sales Tax (T-SPLOST) referendum will be held July 2. 7-9 p.m., at the First Afrikan Presbyterian Church in Lithonia. The event is hosted by Atlantans Building Leadership for Empowerment (ABLE).

Kofi Wahkisi, Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) representative and Cheryl King, assistant to the general manager of planning for MARTA, will present information regarding the upcoming referendum. Also DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis and county commissioner Lee May are scheduled to speak.

 The referendum is on the July 31 primary election ballot. If passed, the referendum will fund $8.5 billion in transportation improvements across metro Atlanta through a regional 1 percent sales tax. The church is located at 5197 Salem Road in Lithonia.

Change in mobile career center schedule

The Mobile Career Center, scheduled June 28 to be located at Scott Candler Library, 2644 McAfee Road in Decatur, will instead be on site during the DeKalb Community Resource Expo at the DeKalb Workforce Development office, 320 Church St., in Decatur, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The expo is a one-day, one-stop event to provide resources and employment services for individuals and families. This event is free and open to the public.

Road closure extended to August

South Stone Mountain-Lithonia Road between Marbut and Chapman roads will remain closed until Sunday, Aug. 5, at 9 p.m. The closure extension is required to complete sewer main replacement. Existing road closure signs will remain in place to advise motorists of construction work and local traffic restrictions around the area. 

Clarkston Police seeking armed robbery suspects

Clarkston Police are in the process of obtaining warrants for armed robbery suspects in two separate incidents over the past week, police chief Christine Hudson said.

On June 23 a Burmese refugee allegedly stole an iPod from another man after threatening him with a Taser at 4358 East Ponce De Leon Ave., police said. Then two days later a woman reported that she and her daughter while walking on Hill Street were accosted by three men—one had a gun and another had a slingshot.