News Releases
FORMER ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER DAVID FREEMAN SENTENCED TO PRISON IN “DIABLOS” STREET GANG CASE
August 08, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia; Vanessa McLemore, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Gregory Jones, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Richard J. Pennington, Chief, Atlanta Police Department, announce that DAVID ALAN FREEMAN, 39, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr., on charges of depriving a person of their civil rights by misusing official authority. According to Nahmias and the evidence presented in court:
FREEMAN was sentenced to 5 years, 10 months in federal prison. There is no parole in the federal system. FREEMAN was also ordered to serve 3 years of supervised release.
FREEMAN pleaded guilty on February 8, 2005, to a federal civil rights violation in connection with his association with the “Diablos,” an Atlanta-based street gang. FREEMAN had been an Atlanta police officer for approximately 12 years prior to his indictment and arrest. In his plea, FREEMAN admitted that he associated with the Diablos and that in 2001, he committed a civil rights violation with the aid of at least one Diablo gang member. FREEMAN admitted that he misused his authority to summon an individual under threat of arrest. Once the victim appeared, FREEMAN and several men abducted the victim and took him to a Diablo-controlled area where the victim was severely beaten. The victim sustained injuries including broken ribs and a broken cheekbone which required surgery.
United States Attorney David Nahmias said of the case, “This police officer, sworn to uphold the law, instead used his authority to assist a violent gang. He will now serve a significant sentence along with the criminals he joined.”
The case was investigated by Special Agents of the ATF and FBI, and the Atlanta Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Yonette Buchanan and Joseph Plummer prosecuted the case.
For further information please contact David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney, or F. Gentry Shelnutt, Chief, Criminal Division, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.