Crime & Safety

Former SW Atlanta Christian Star Hoops Player Jailed Again

Javaris Crittenton, who was out on bond awaiting trial on murder charges for the 2011 shooting death of an Atlanta woman, is alleged to have been a part of a drug trafficking organization centered in the metro area.

By Patch Editor Bob Pepalis

Javaris Crittenton, who was a basketball standout at both Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy and Georgia Tech, was among more than a dozen people who were arrested in an early morning drug trafficking sting Wednesday throughout metro Atlanta by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Prior to Wednesday's arrest, Crittenton was out on bond awaiting trial on murder charges for the 2011 shooting death of an Atlanta woman. A trial date for that case has not yet been set.

The suspects arrested Wednesday were indicted on Friday on multiple drug charges including conspiracy to commit the crime of trafficking in cocaine and conspiracy to commit the crime of trafficking in marijuana, according to a release from the Fulton County District Attorney's Office.

The defendants are alleged to have been a part of a drug trafficking organization centered in metro Atlanta. Crittenton and the other suspects are accused of selling multi-kilo quantities of cocaine and several hundred pounds of marijuana during the seven-month investigation dating back to June 2012.

The operation was directed by members of the David G. Wilhelm Strike Force—a special cooperative drug task force comprised of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

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Charged along with Mr. Crittenton are:

  • Courtney Lavon Cain, 28, of Atlanta
  • Lanier Clark, 32, of College Park,
  • Marcado Curry, 36
  • McKinnley Denson, 33, of Ellenwood
  • Ludie Jackson, 44, of Stockbridge
  • Cindy McQueary, 44
  • Shenekea Smith, 33

Each of these defendants was indicted on state charges and will be prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Gangs and Drugs Unit in Fulton County Superior Court. The other six defendants face federal charges.

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Crittenton was indicted by a Fulton County grand jury last May on murder charges stemming from the 2011 drive-by shooting of a 22-year-old Atlanta mother of four.

Crittenton, 25, and his cousin, Douglas Gamble, are charged in the shooting death of Julian Jones as she walked on Macon Drive near Cleveland Avenue, and the attempted murder of another man.

Crittenton was a McDonald’s All American high school player and then averaged 14.4 points per game in his lone season at Georgia Tech before being selected 19th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Police say that Crittenton, who has maintained his innocence since his September, 2011 arrest, joined a Los Angeles gang not long after being drafted by the Lakers.



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