ATLANTA — The man accused of throwing a brick and leaving dead rats at the home of a businessman, convicted of bribing the City of Atlanta for contracts, has himself been sentenced.
Shandarrick Barnes faced witness intimidation and obstruction charges for throwing the brick at E.R. Mitchell's home in 2015, according to federal prosecutors. Mitchell is one of the two contractors that pleaded guilty to paying nearly $2 million in bribes to win city contracts.
In July of that year, federal investigators approached Mitchell about the investigation into corruption in the City of Atlanta. Shortly after, in September, officials said Barnes threw the brick and left the dead rodents on his porch and in his car and mailbox, as a warning the businessman to shut up after Mitchell agreed to cooperate with federal investigators trying to unravel the bribery scandal.
Investigators were able to connect a car seen in surveillance video speeding away from the home to Barnes.
During interviews with investigators, Barnes later admitted to throwing the brick through Mitchell's window because he was aware of the investigation and the businessman's cooperation and was angry about it.
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At the time, Barnes was employed by the City of Atlanta and supervised by Mitzi Bickers, the woman indicted last week for funneling the money from Mitchell and another contractor to other city employees to win influence.
Barnes was sentenced to 32 months, which includes credit for time already served in federal custody.
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