BLUE RIDGE, Ga.
Area builder gets indicted
A builder with connections in Cherokee County, N.C., was jailed March 10 after a Fannin County Grand Jury returned a 13-count indictment alleging he took nearly half a million dollars and never performed work he promised.
Jason Eugene Bryson, 47, of 2865 Ada St., the owner of Higher Ground Builders, is accused of conversion of payments for real property improvements in the first 11 counts of the indictment and theft of services in the final two counts. The indictments were returned March 7 by the November term of the grand jury.
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Investigations Capt. Justin Turner of the Fannin County Sheriff’s Office said an investigation into Bryson’s activities began in August 2022. Between August and October. Turner said he received 11 complaints, in addition to complaints that were referred to proper jurisdictions.
Turner said the complaints originated from out-of-town residents who paid Bryson to build new homes at various locations throughout Fannin County. When the residents began checking on the progress Bryson was supposed to be making, they found “things weren’t moving per schedule” of the money he was being paid for work and materials.
One of Bryson’s victims was granted a pre-warrant hearing by Chief Magistrate Judge Brian Jones on Sept. 20. After hearing evidence, Jones issued a warrant for conversion of payments for real property improvements, and Bryson was immediately taken into custody. He was later released on bond.
Bryson was re-arrested by Fannin County deputies in mid-February on a fugitive from justice charge in connection with warrants out of Cherokee County. Local arrest records show he was booked into jail on four counts of obtain property by false pretense.
Howard Wells’ home is in Cherokee County near the Georgia and Tennessee borders. “I walked up to (Bryson) and said, ‘I don’t know how you sleep at night,’ ” Wells told WSB.
The Fannin County indictments indicate Bryson’s crimes began around Nov. 5, 2020, and continued through Aug. 1, 2022.
Bryson filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 6, 2022, according to records for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia. In that filing, he estimated having 100-199 creditors, whom he owed between $1 million and $10 million.
He estimated his assets between $100,001 and $500,000. Bryson listed full or partial ownership in five businesses; Higher Ground Real Estate LLC, Rockyscapes LLC, Higher Ground Cabinets LLC, Higher Ground Builders LLC and TruslerBryson Properties LLC.
BRYSON CITY
Shooter won’t face charges
No criminal charges will be brought against a South Carolina resident who shot and killed Lambert Wilson last fall, according to District Attorney Ashley Welch.
Law enforcement officers arrived in the evening hours of Oct. 20, 2022, to find the 68-year-old Swain County native dead on the sidewalk of El Camino Hotel in Cherokee. Welch said the investigation showed that Leo Pruess, 60, acted in self defense after Wilson brandished a handgun. The shooting occurred after an argument in the motel involving Lambert and the couple.
“Although we will never know exactly what occurred that night, after meeting numerous times with the district attorney and Cherokee Indian Police, we understand why the decision not to charge was reached,” Lambert’s family members said in a prepared statement. “We have suffered a tremendous loss that the family and this community will never recover from.”
Welch praised Cherokee police officers for conducting a thorough and complete investigation, singling out the efforts of lead Detective Jesse Aiken.
“The District Attorney’s Office and Cherokee Indian Police must follow the law and evidence as dictated under North Carolina’s stand-your-ground law,” Welch said. “Based on the evidence and witness accounts, we determined Mr. Preuss was legally justified in using deadly force.”
Preuss and his wife cooperated with officers, including SBI agents who arrived to process the crime scene, the district attorney said. The couple agreed to interviews, provided blood samples and fingerprints, and consented to both personal searches and a search of their car.
The couple’s blood samples showed no evidence of either alcohol or narcotics. Lambert had a 0.17 blood alcohol content, according to a toxicology report.
“This tragic event has resulted in the community losing a beloved and well-respected person in Mr. Wilson,” Welch said. “Our sincere condolences go out to his family.”
FRANKLIN
3 convicted in drug deals
Two men and a woman who were arrested separately for trafficking drugs have pleaded guilty in Macon County Superior Court, District Attorney Ashley Hornsby Welch said.
“We take seriously our responsibility to target drug dealers,” Welch said.
These are the pleas:
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Adam Sackman, 35, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to felony trafficking opium or heroin (fentanyl). Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bill Coward ordered Sackman to serve a minimum of 225 months up to a maximum of 282 months in state prison.
On Sept. 14, 2022, in the wake of multiple drug overdoses, law enforcement officers were investigating drug activity at a Sarawak Road house. Probation officers Alice Sutton, Kristy Kinsland and Matt Parrish observed Sackman leaving the residence and notified other law enforcement officers.
Macon County Detective Matthew Breedlove attempted a traffic stop on U.S. 441 South. Sackman fled, leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase through an active construction zone, school grounds and along the grass fairways of Franklin Golf Course, scattering golfers at the fifth hole. The chase ended when Sackman drove head-on into a tree.
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Jeremiah Smith, 41, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to felony trafficking methamphetamine. Coward ordered Smith to served a minimum of 70 months up to a maximum of 93 months in state prison.
Smith was arrested on Dec. 1, 2022, after probation officers Sutton and Miciah Leatherman, who were conducting a probation check, observed the convicted felon inside his vehicle. Smith was on probation and there was an active warrant for his arrest. He admitted to possessing illegal drugs.
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u Reyna Angelicka Garcilita, 26, of Franklin, pleaded guilty to felony trafficking opium or heroin. Coward ordered Garcilita to serve a minimum of 90 months up to a maximum of 120 months in state prison.
On Dec. 7, 2021, in response to reports of drug dealing, Macon County sheriff’s detectives, Franklin police and probation officers conducted a search of Garcilita’s bedroom. The law enforcement officers reported that they discovered drugs and drug paraphernalia, a handgun and a large amount of cash.
From staff reports.