Trump to be booked at notorious Atlanta jail

As Former US President Donald Trump plans to give up on Thursday to face expenses he tried to overturn the 2020 election, he’s anticipated to take action at an Atlanta jail the place situations are so infamous they’re underneath investigation by the Justice Department.

The 77-year-old former president and the 18 co-defendants within the election racketeering case are to be booked on the Fulton County Jail, also called the Rice Street Jail, in accordance with the sheriff’s workplace.

Standard reserving process is for a defendant to be fingerprinted and to have a mugshot taken earlier than they’re launched on bond — which has already been set at $200,000 in Trump’s case.

Trump didn’t must bear the indignity of getting a mugshot taken throughout his three earlier arrests this yr; In New York on expenses of paying hush cash to a porn star, in Florida for mishandling high secret authorities paperwork and in Washington on expenses of conspiring to upend his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

But Fulton County Sheriff Pat Labat informed reporters this month that in the case of a reserving at his jail, “it doesn’t matter your status.”

“We have a mug shot ready for you,” Labat mentioned.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, and the opposite co-defendants have till midday on Friday to give up voluntarily to the fees they conspired to overturn the billionaire’s election loss to Biden in Georgia.

Trump mentioned in a submit on his Truth Social platform that he can be going to Atlanta on Thursday to be arrested, however didn’t give a time.

In a fundraising attraction, he mentioned it will happen at a jail “which has been described as a ‘humanitarian crisis'” the place “guards have collected over 1,000 shanks fashioned from the crumbling walls.”

Two co-defendants within the racketeering case, Trump lawyer John Eastman and Scott Hall, a bail bondsman, had been booked on the Fulton County Jail on Tuesday and launched on bond.

The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office has arrange a good safety perimeter across the facility, closing streets and limiting entry.

“When Former President Trump surrenders, there will be a hard lockdown of the area surrounding the Rice Street Jail, meaning no ingress or egress during that time,” the sheriff’s workplace mentioned in a press release.

UNSAFE, UNSANITARY: PROBE INTO CONDITIONS AT FULTON COUNTY JAIL

The Justice Department opened a probe in July into situations on the Fulton County Jail, the place a lot of detainees have died in recent times.

Attorney General Merrick Garland mentioned it was being launched “based on serious allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living conditions at the jail.”

Added US Attorney Ryan Buchanan: “Recent allegations of filthy housing teeming with insects, rampant violence resulting in death and injuries, and officers using excessive force are cause for grave concern and warrant a thorough investigation.”

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the jail presently homes greater than 2,500 inmates, double the quantity it was initially designed to carry in 1989.

Fifteen inmates died on the jail final yr, the newspaper mentioned, and 4 deaths had been reported prior to now 5 weeks alone.

Fulton County not too long ago authorized a $4 million settlement with the household of a 35-year-old man with psychological well being issues who was discovered lifeless in his cell lined in lice and bedbugs.

Attorney John Eastman was named as a co-defendant with the ex-president, and was booked on the identical Atlanta jail the place Trump is predicted to show himself.

Following his reserving, Trump can be topic to a court docket association the place he can be formally charged and enter a plea.

Judge Scott McAfee, who’s presiding over the case, can resolve whether or not Trump wants to seem in particular person on the arraignment or whether or not he can seem just about.

Fani Willis, the Fulton County district lawyer who introduced the case, has requested for the preparations to happen in the course of the week of September 5 and for the trial to start on March 4, 2024.

Others dealing with racketeering expenses within the alleged Georgia conspiracy embrace Trump’s former private lawyer Rudy Giuliani and his White House chief of workers Mark Meadows.

Published On:

Aug 23, 2023