MACON, Ga. — Macon’s District Attorney-Elect Anita Reynolds Howard is questioning how the current District Attorney is distributing funds seized in gambling raids.
She’s filed a court motion to stop District Attorney David Cooke from sending millions to agencies around the state.
Now, it’s turned into a nasty dispute between the outgoing District Attorney and the woman who beat him this summer.
Anita Howard says in September, Cooke’s office illegally distributed over $5 million, some of which she says should have stayed in Bibb, Peach, and Crawford counties.
On top of filing a motion to intervene in the case, Howard also is calling on those funds be given back to Cooke’s office so they can be "legally and properly disbursed."
She says she filed the motion so programs in the Macon Judicial Circuit’s three counties get the funds they deserve.
"It’s detrimental to the office, but my main concern is it’s detrimental to Bibb, Crawford, and Peach counties, to the community," Howard said.
A Bibb County judge signed an order on September 21, listing money from a July 2019 gambling raid case that would be distributed to a dozen judicial circuits and law enforcement agencies. However, the list shows no money going to the Macon Judicial Circuit where Cooke is the chief prosecutor.
"That was done in bad faith because I don’t understand how the Bibb County DA's office is paying the attorneys for the labor. We’ve been raised with the idea of you get the fruits of your labor. The Bibb County DA’s office for the Macon Judicial Circuit, Bibb, Crawford, and Peach counties, was left out of the distribution," Howard said.
The money was taken from businesses and their owners where law enforcement last year found illegal gambling going on. For years, Cooke has donated money from cases like this to law enforcement agencies and other community programs. That money has run into millions, but Cooke says he’s already distributed a previous batch of money from this 2019 case.
In a February order, the Macon Judicial Circuit received 55 percent of the funds. Cooke says his office got $3 million then. Adam Ney with Cooke's office says the funds are distributed based on participation and where the crime occurs.
"I don’t understand. There was value for the resources as far as money and time that Bibb County put into, that Bibb County received funds with that disbursement, but all the sudden now, in September, there is no appreciation for the resources that this community has put in to getting that disbursement," Howard said.
Howard also claims Cooke ignored Georgia law by distributing the funds in September.
The law states when a district attorney has been defeated in an election, they cannot send any of that civil forfeiture proceedings to any other agency before leaving office. The exception is when used for prosecuting cases.
Howard told WMAZ she believes Cooke retaliated against her for defeating him in June by handing out all that money to other counties.
She says she has not personally spoken to Cooke about the dispute.
In a statement to 13 WMAZ, DA David Cooke wrote:
"Had Ms. Howard bothered to reach out to the attorneys involved in this case before attacking the judge’s order, she would have learned that the order was correct and that the first three million dollars from this case went directly to the DA’s office for the benefit of our community. Unfortunately, she instead chose to play politics and smear the very office she will soon lead. The District Attorney's focus should be on the interests of Middle Georgia families, not on scoring cheap political points."
Howard says she hopes that this is settled before going to court. However, she told WMAZ that she has asked the Superior Court for a hearing as soon as possible.
Some of the agencies that were on Cooke’s list to receive funds include the Brunswick, Atlantic and Augusta Judicial Circuits as well as the Macon-Bibb County Sheriff's Office.
Howard says she’s notified the agencies that she’s filed a motion for the District Attorney's Office to reclaim the money.