Guilty plea entered yesterday in case resulting from 2022 Toccoa shooting

On Jan. 22, Demetrius Sanchez Smith, 34, of Toccoa, pleaded guilty in Stephens County Superior Court for the second time in less than six months, both times entering his pleas moments before the jury was empanelled for trial on charges Smith faced. 

In this week’s plea agreement, Smith pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, one count violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, and one count possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. 

The charges stem from a shooting incident in January 2022 in Toccoa, for which Smith, among others, was indicted in July 2022. According to the indictment, Smith, who was associated with the criminal street gang “the Bloods,” assaulted three individuals with a 9 mm handgun. Smith, at the time of the crime, was a convicted felon, having been convicted in 2009 of the felony offenses of armed robbery and kidnapping.  

On September 18 of last year, Smith pleaded guilty on two charges of violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, as well as methamphetamine and cocaine trafficking counts.  

Following the September 18 guilty plea, Smith was sentenced to twelve years of confinement followed by eight years of probation.

Following this week’s guilty plea, Smith was sentenced to eight years of custody on one of the conspiracy to commit assault charges, to be served concurrently with any other sentencing, including the September 18, 2023 sentence. He was also sentenced to five years of custody on the possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charge, to be served concurrently to the eight year sentence. Smith was additionally sentenced to 40 years probation. Smith will receive credit for time served from August 2022 until September 2023. 

Included in the negotiated plea was a $1,000 fine, and Senior Judge Albert Collier additionally banned Smith from the Mountain Judicial Circuit, which is composed of Stephens, Rabun and Habersham counties. According to sentencing forms, the banishment may be reconsidered 10 years after Smith’s release from custody, if no probation violations are committed.