ATLANTA — One case was resolved and at least two will go to trial after a plea hearing Tuesday in the trial for the remaining un-tried YSL defendants.
A final plea hearing was held Tuesday morning for the final five un-tried defendants in the YSL RICO case.
Of the five, defendant Miles Farley accepted a negotiated Alford plea on one charge, conspiracy to violate RICO, with his remaining charges dropped. An Alford plea is one where a defendant maintains his innocence but accepts a guilty outcome.
Farley was sentenced to five years of probation.
Two other defendants, Damekion Garlington and Christian Eppinger, rejected plea offers. The status of the other two defendants, Demise McMullen and Tenquarius Mender, was not immediately clear.
The State proposed a trial date of Feb. 24, 2025.
The defendants are the last among the 28 who have not had their case resolved -- either through plea deals, guilty pleas or, as in the case of the last two defendants in the first trial, through a jury's largely not-guilty verdict.
The conclusion of the yearlong YSL trial proceedings earlier this month with that jury verdict left 11 cases still open. Charges were then dropped against six of those 11, leaving Farley, Garlington, Eppinger, McMullen and Mender.
The charges entering the hearing included:
Miles Farley
- Violation of RICO (Count 1) -- negotiated plea
- Murder (Count 49) -- dropped
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 50) -- dropped
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 51) -- dropped
- Possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony (Count 54) -- dropped
Tenquarius Mender
- Violation of RICO (Count 1)
- Possession of weapon by incarcerated individual (Count 44)
- Possession of telecommunication device by incarcerated individual (Count 45)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 46)
Demise McMullen
- Violation of RICO (Count 1)
- Murder (Count 2)
Damekion Garlington
- Violation of RICO (Count 1)
- Attempted murder (Count 40)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 42)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 43)
- Murder (Count 49)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 50)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 51)
- Possession of firearm during commission of a felony (Count 54)
Christian Eppinger
- Violation of RICO (Count 1)
- Armed robbery (Count 27)
- Hijacking a motor vehicle first degree (Count 28)
- Possession of firearm by first offender probationer (Count 29)
- Theft by taking (Count 31)
- Attempted murder (Count 32)
- Attempted murder (Count 33)
- Possession of firearm by first offender probationer (Count 34)
- Possession of firearm by first offender probationer (Count 35)
- Possession of firearm during commission of a felony (Count 36)
- Possession of firearm during commission of a felony (Count 37)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 38)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 39)
- Conspiracy to commit a crime (Count 47)
- Participation in criminal street gang activity (Count 48)