Criminal, civil actions result from metal recycling investigation in Toccoa

TOCCOA - Law enforcement officers raided two Stephens County businesses engaged in the practice of buying metals for recycling and re-sale Wednesday morning... Whitlock's Recycling and Carter's Royal Dispos-All following a six-month investigation into metal thefts and metal recycling.

A number of state and local agencies were involved in the opertion, including the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Stephens County Sheriff's Office, the Mountain Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team, the Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney's Office, the Oconee County (South Carolina) Sheriff's Office, the Georgia National Guard, the Norfolk Southern Railroad Police and the Georgia State Patrol.

The Stephens County Grand Jury was called into special session Wednesday morning and has returned indictments against various individuals and entities as a result of this investigation.

John Levis Carter and other unidentified co-conspirators and Jeff Whitlock and eight other people were indicted on charges that include racketeering, operating a chop shop, unlawful regulated metal transaction and unlawful payment by recyclers.

Authorities say the Mountain Judicial Circuit, like most of Georgia, has experienced in recent years an epidemic level of metal theft. Those directly linked to the Stephens County investigation say many if not the majority of the persons involved in metal theft are drug addicts who sell stolen metal and other stolen items to get money for their habit.

The Georgia legislature in recent years passed additional laws tightening the requirements to be followed by metal purchasers. This investigation began in an effort to determine if those laws and all others were being followed, authorities added.