A Macon couple claims that District Attorney David Cooke and others seized their assets, forced them into bankruptcy and destroyed their lives -- all based on false evidence.
The Bartletts and six other people were arrested in May 2015 and charged with running illegal gambling through their businesses.
One of the places raided was Captain Jack's Crab Shack in Byron, owned by the Bartletts.
Authorities said they were offering cash prizes to people playing video gaming machines. That's illegal under Georgia state law, but the Bartletts filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Atlanta challenging that.
They argue that they had no gambling machines -- only "bona fide coin-operated amusement machines." Those games are based on skill rather than chance, they said.
The Bartletts claim they made no cash payments, and that all their earnings from those machines were properly reported to the Georgia Lottery.
Their lawsuit claims that Cooke has a practice of seizing businesses that use those legal machines, to "extort" funds from the defendants.
"Cooke creates an unaccountable fund with the revenue generated from these illegal seizures... and them expends them, in violation of the Georgia Constitution, on items that he believes will garner him favor with his constituency."
Also named as defendants in the lawsuit are Michael Lambros, a special prosecutor named in the case, Byron police investigator Melanie Bickford and Centerville police office Christine Welch.
A document filed June 25 by Cooke's office in a separate civil case against the Bartletts gives a different picture.
It says the couple took in $2.5 million a year from gambling and that their three restaurants were just fronts for their illegal gambling operations.
Cooke's office also argues that the couple filed for bankruptcy only to hide their gambling proceeds.
Cooke's court filing also says the court gave the Bartletts permission to reopen Captain Jacks but they declined.
Finally, Cooke's office claims that the Bartlett's lawyers in the case were hired by a gambling-machine company, which is funding the lawsuit.
Those lawyers should be sanctioned for false statements in the case and "abusive pleadings."
We called their lead attorney, Michael Bowers of Atlanta, on Friday. He could not be reached for comment.
Cooke says Ronnie and Lee Bartlett are wrong, and he expects to prove it in court.
“The claim is false. It’s going to be proven to be false, and I’m just looking forward to defending not only the integrity and practices of my office, but also the officers who are involved in this case,” said Cooke.