The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • D11

MAIN1114-A-D -Composite Proof 0:06 0:00 Hand Made Mini Crystal chandelier, European Made AHA CRYSTAL ART GLASS COLLECTIBLES LAMPS 1213 Alpahretta St ROSWELL 99 With Ad Reg. 249 770-998-8080 www.ahacrystal.com Bermuda Sod .47 sq ft Installed! Fescue Sod .60 sq ft. Installed! Zoysia .65 sq ft Installed! Free Estimate On Landscape Lighting, Sprinkler Repair Installations 200 off on Sprinkler Installations during November Master Card Visa 678-524-8096 770-888-9399 Sod Sale Irrigation Sale Tolbert Landscape Inc. RMAIN1114OD11FMAIN1114OD11 4 Star 11D 11D RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack D11 4 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 By MILO IPPOLITO One of the largest bootleg compact disc operations has been stopped, federal authorities in Atlanta announced Thursday.

The counterfeiters allegedly manufactured $50 million worth of illegally copied albums by Ja Rule, Ludacris, Britney Spears, Eminem and numerous other artists, according to the U.S. office. people from the recording industry have told us this is clearly the largest counterfeit CD operation in the Southeast and among the largest they have seen in the U.S. Attorney William Duffey said Thursday. Authorities seized 127,000 music CDs in a Nov.

7 raid in south Atlanta, four days after a federal grand jury indicted six men on 15 record pirating and conspiracy charges. Duffey, Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington and FBI Special Agent in Charge Theodore Jackson announced the bust at a news conference in downtown Atlanta. Charged with multiple counts of conspiracy and pirating of copyrighted material are Khalid Ahmed Satary, 31, of Lawrenceville; Garland Wayne Ethridge, 53, of Dacula; Carl Wisdom Smith, 50, of Buford; Akram Abdelrahman Yacoub, 38, of Lawrenceville; Dalton Mark Howell, 48, of Lilburn; and Abedullah F. Al- Qudah, 34, of Yonkers, N.Y. believe they manufactured over 3 million CDs over the course of their Duffey said.

The CDs sold for $5 to $15 but were not found at established record stores, the U.S. attorney said. sold at flea markets. sold by street venders and sold at storefronts that they create for the sale of these counterfeit The forgeries often can be spotted by the poor quality of the cover artwork, Duffey said. The sound quality may have been better than the packaging, he said.

know the equipment they were using was good Other bootlegged artists included Snoop Dogg, Miles Davis, Christina Aguilera and the Beastie Boys, police said. Alleged ringleader Satary, also known as registered to do business in Georgia as Atlas Media Corp. in April 1999 to purchase bulk orders of CD-Rs and jewel cases, authorities said. He bought $20,000 worth of CD copying equipment that year from Al-Qudah and set up shop at an office at 1718 Peachtree St. in Midtown, a plant on Cleveland Avenue and locations in Doraville, College Park, Smyrna, Jonesboro and Macon, authorities said.

Many of the CDs were sold at a storefront in the Bankhead Highway flea market, authorities said. Satary is further accused of using his bodyguards to intimidate a competitor at another flea market. Smith is accused of illegally copying CDs at his home in Buford and delivering them to Ethridge, authorities said. Ethridge operated as Eagle Media on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Norcross, they said. Howell allegedly operated out of offices on U.S.

29 in Lilburn and is accused of delivering CDs for Satary. Al- Qudah operated a CD plant in Lawrenceville and hired Yacoub to manage it, authorities said. Satary appeared before U.S. District Judge Beverly Martin on Monday and was held without bond, awaiting trial. The others appeared before federal magistrates and were granted bond.

The ring has been under investigation for four years, Duffey said. an ongoing he said, we intend to investigate and dismantle the remaining Huge bootleg CD ring smashed, officials say Springs homeowners will pay an average of $28.77 per month next year, vs. $23.75 for city dwellers. really have to do some powerful explaining to Galambos said. By the end of the five-year phase-in of the rate hike, average monthly water bills will look more like electricity bills: $57.14 for a Sandy Springs or south Fulton home, and $47.17 for a city home.

The water hikes will be offset some because those areas send their sewage to Fulton County, which charges about 25 percent less than Atlanta for sewer service. The city of Hapeville, in south Fulton, buys both wholesale water and sewer service from Atlanta. Wholesale water rates would go up 188 percent during the next five years. Atlanta officials know how much more wholesale sewer customers, like Hapeville and DeKalb County, will have to pay. They will be charged based on how much sewage they send into the Atlanta system, and how much is spent on upgrading the treatment plants that serve them.

Hapeville Mayor William Alan Hallman said, trying to wait for the dust to settle to just see what the going to Atlanta also supplies about 20 percent of Coweta water and less than 5 percent of the water used in Clayton and Fayette counties. Harry Hughes, general manager of the Coweta County Water and Sewer Department, said the county takes about 1 million gallons of Atlanta water a day. That costs roughly $2,340. Next year, the same amount of water would cost about $3,400. think be overwhelming or Hughes said.

will certainly hasten our next rate DeKalb already passed on sewer rate hikes to pay $158 million for its share of work done on the R.M. Clayton sewage treatment plant and two other Atlanta plants in recent years. DeKalb also is paying to replace sewer pipes that run through Atlanta carrying the wastewater. paid our said States Finley, a deputy director in DeKalb water and sewer division. Fulton County Commissioner Emma Darnell said unfair for Atlanta to pass along costs for the full $3.2 billion sewer and water overhaul because only 44 percent of it is being required.

The mandates were imposed by federal court orders to make Atlanta stop sending raw sewage into the Chattahoochee and South rivers. was Atlanta that added these Darnell said. Atlanta put them in, Atlanta should take them Rates: wholesale customers likely to see raises Continued from D1 CHUCK BLEVINS Staff Miles 5 0 85 75 1 2 2 3 3 ATLANTA COWETA FAYETTE CLAYTON DEKALB GWINNETT Water Wholesale water Wholesale wastewater City boundary AREAS SERVED BY THE CITY OF ATLANTA 20032004 1 2 3 CHANGE IN WATER AND SEWER HENRY SPALDING 75 675 400 85 285 20 Sources: City of Atlanta; staff research FULTON on average monthly water use of 7,000 gallons RIPPLES OF RATE INCREASE If the Atlanta City Council on Monday approves rate hikes that would triple water and sewer bills over the next five years, the ripple will be felt in surrounding communities served by Atlanta. Wholesale water customers will decide whether to pass on the tripled cost. Wholesale sewer customers will pay their share of sewer upgrades as they occur.

Welder hurt in Buford blast dies One of two workers severely burned in an explosion in the Buford area Monday has died, authorities said. Brian Lipe, 32, a welding supervisor who had been in critical condition since the accident, died Wednesday morning at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. Keith Duffer, 47, a welding superintendent, was listed in critical condition Thursday. The welders were working in a 6-foot-high tunnel on Anchor Way when a spark caused a flash fire about 7 a.m. Monday, said Gwinnett County fire spokesman David Dusik.

The tunnel is being constructed to deliver water from Lake Lanier to a Gwinnett water treatment plant. DeKALB COUNTY Gas line fire sends bulldozer on journey Two construction workers escaped harm after the earth mover and bulldozer they were driving ruptured an underground gas line, igniting a large fire. The men were working to clear a site on Fairington Road in Lithonia that will become home to a Wal-Mart Super- center when the accident happened at 2:45 p.m. Thursday, said DeKalb County fire Capt. Eric Jackson.

The fire burned itself out a few hours later. Both drivers jumped from their seats when the fire erupted, Jackson said. The earth mover was soon engulfed in flames, but the bulldozer traveled, driverless, for about a quarter- mile. It smashed a trash bin and a car before coming to rest at a BP gasoline station at the intersection of Panola Road and I-20. SAVANNAH Girl accused of killing boyfriend A Chatham County grand jury Wednesday indicted Terrell Brady, 17, on charges of shooting to death her live-in boyfriend, just two weeks before the planned wedding.

Before the shooting, on July 15, Brady apparently accused the victim, John Ricky McCloud, 41, of cheating on his mother, police said. From staff and news services LAW ORDER ASSOCIATED PRESS Macon A Rutland High School student has been arrested and charged in an attack on a classmate. The victim, Sean Stubbs, 17, was being treated at the Medical Center of Central Georgia for head trauma and a fracture after the attack on Monday. Derrick Deshazier, 17, was arrested Tuesday by campus police and charged with battery and disruption of a public school, said Bibb County Campus Police Chief Russell Bentley. Deshazier was released on a $1,500 bond.

Another student suspected in the beating will be served with a complaint and must appear in juvenile court, Bentley said. His name was not released because he is a minor. Police also are investigating whether another student, also a minor, was involved. School officials say one student threw pencils and a book at Stubbs, who was sitting at a computer, during a vocational class on Monday. The student then struck Stubbs, and then Deshazier began to kick and hit him.

When the teacher tried to break up the scuffle, another student stopped the teacher, Bentley said. Campus police were called at that point. School administrators said they do not know a reason for the fight. The students have been removed from the school and could be suspended, expelled or sent to an alternative school. Teen charged in attack.