Anderson pleads guilty, gets 20 years and banished from county

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Nathan Anderson pled guilty to 18 counts of criminal activity, most of them being theft by taking, theft by receiving, and possession of motor vehicles with altered identification numbers.

Appalachian Judicial Circuit Senior Judge Brenda Weaver sentenced Anderson to 20 years in prison with 10 years to serve. If he cooperates with agents of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation regarding other aspects of the stolen vehicles and equipment, his prison sentence could be reduced to five years.

Anderson was also banished from the Appalachian Judicial Circuit, which includes Gilmer, Fannin, and Pickens counties, for the next 20 years. Anderson also has to pay a $150,000 forfeiture within the next 60 days or lose assets, and he was given a $25,000 fine.

Anderson was originally arrested in April 2006 in connection with some stolen logging equipment, and an investigation tied him to other stolen equipment that went on to have a value between $600,000 and $1 million.

Anderson was indicted by a spring 2006 Gilmer County Grand Jury for equipment recovered in a joint investigation conducted by agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Department.

Appalachian Judicial Circuit District Attorney Joe Hendricks told the Times-Courier, “The plea and sentence in this case are the result of the dedication and hard work of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office. Special Agent in Charge John Cagle and sheriff’s investigator Lane Bennett, and district attorney investigators John Russell and Kenny Crook worked diligently to build a case against one of north Georgia’s worst organized criminals. I am grateful this county can look forward to the next 20 years without Nathan Anderson’s presence.”

Anderson will be transferred to a state correctional facility in the next few weeks.