Former Dothan police chief indicted by Georgia grand jury on criminal charges

DOTHAN, Ala.— Former Dothan police Chief John Powell has been indicted by a Georgia grand jury along with three others after an investigation into a multiagency narcotics-enforcement team.

On Thursday, a Glynn County grand jury returned multiple indictments against Powell, who is Glynn County police chief; David M. Haney; David Hassler; and Brian Scott.

According to the Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, the Georgia Bureau of Investigations began an investigation in February 2019 into allegations concerning an officer with the Glynn-Brunswick Narcotics Enforcement Team. The now-dissolved team consisted of Glynn County and Brunswick police officers.

The initial allegations involved improper contact between a team officer and a confidential informant being used by the team to make criminal cases. The officer pleaded guilty to two counts of violation of oath of office.

As a condition of his sentence, the officer provided testimony and agreed to cooperate with further investigations.

On May 28, Judge Roger Lane set aside the conviction in the case Georgia v. Whittle, and made findings and recommendations about the narcotics-enforcement team that resulted in a number of criminal convictions being set aside or sentences being modified or reduced.

In September, a grand jury for the March term returned presentments, making a series of findings and recommendations concerning the operations of the team and the Glynn County Police Department. That grand jury recommended that criminal charges be considered by the next grand jury.

On Oct. 4, Judge Larry Anthony Harrison entered an order in the case Georgia v. Jones suppressing a traffic stop in a team-related case. As a result, the defendant was allowed to plead to lesser charges and probation in the vehicular-homicide case.

On Nov. 15, Tracy Lawson was appointed by the district attorney as a special prosecutor for the Brunswick Judicial Circuit to determine if further criminal charges were appropriate. Lawson, a former district attorney and juvenile judge of the Clayton County Judicial Circuit, was provided Lane and Harrison’s court orders with findings pertaining to the team; the underlying court testimony from the Whittle and Jones hearings; the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s probes; the associated internal-affairs investigations; and inquiries provided by the Glynn County Police Department.

Lawson served notice of grand jury investigations and the proposed indictment of four current or former Glynn County police officers, under OCGA 17-7-52, notice of the grand jury and an opportunity to testify must be provide to police officers.

They surrendered at the Glynn County Sheriff’s Office to be processed for outstanding warrants.

Powell served as Dothan police chief from March 2005 to August 2009. As chief, he coordinated the activities of the Police Department’s 255 employees.

He resigned to become director of the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco.

He previously served as police chief for two other agencies, the Wilson Police Department in North Carolina for almost three years and the Hartsville Police Department in South Carolina for about two years.

Powell also took a position with the FBI for three years after he’d worked at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office for 13 years in Florida.

He also ran for sheriff of Escambia County in 2004 but was defeated in the general election.