Two Charged in Gang Statutes Cases Denied Bond

Two people charged in Stephens County under Georgia’s gang statutes remain in custody after being denied bond.

Court documents show that both 49-year-old Barry Dean Daniels of Poplar Street and Rajae Laron Neal of Morgan Street in Toccoa were denied bond at hearings last week.

Daniels and Neal are both charged with Participation in a Criminal Street Gang after being arrested in separate incidents last month by separate agencies.

Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said that his department arrested Daniels on February 9 after authorities executed a search warrant at Daniels’ Poplar Street residence and allegedly found suspected drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Jarrell sai Daniels was charged under the gang statute because authorities have reason to believe the sale and distribution of the drugs in that home were linked to suspected drug activity.

Daniels was also charged with two counts of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon and Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Distribute.

Meanwhile, Neal was arrested in February as well by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on charges of Participation in a Criminal Street Gang and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

Warrants associated with Neal’s arrest say that Neal is accused of, while associated with a criminal street gang, unlawfully participating in criminal gang activity through the commission of the offense of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.