Augustan linked to white supremacist gang arraigned

An Augusta man accused of being part of a white supremacist street gang that dealt in illegal drugs was arraigned in federal court in Statesboro, Ga., on Monday.

David McCloskey, 47, was one of 43 people indicted earlier this month on federal drug trafficking and firearms charges. McCloskey is the only defendant from the Augusta area.

Because of the complexity of the case, the magistrate judge granted McCloskey's defense attorney's request for 50 additional days to file pretrial motions. The magistrate declared the case complex, which releases the case from the "speedy trial" deadline of a trial within 70 days of indictment.

According to court documents, McCloskey faces four charges: conspiracy to possess illegal drugs with the intent to distribute, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The maximum punishment could be life in prison.

According to an earlier report in The Augusta Chronicle, the indictment accuses the defendants of participating in the street gang Ghost Face Gangsters, which started in the state's prison system. The network allegedly operated from 2015 to the present in the southern counties of Bryan, Chatham, Effingham, Emmanuel, Evans and Tattnall to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

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