Illegal car scrapper gets prison time

An Atlanta man wil serve three years in prison for selling four stolen automobiles to auto salvage yards in Fayette County.

Brandon Ramon Cooper, 29, of Langston Avenue entered a guilty plea in court Monday to four counts of theft by receiving stolen property and was sentenced by Fayette County Superior Court Judge Fletcher W. Sams.

Cooper was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $6,300 in restitution to the four victims in the case.

All four of the vehicles sold by Cooper had been stolen from locations outside Fayette County, including one daycare facility and one church, according to prosecutors.

Judge Sams warned Cooper that once he is released from prison, he should avoid violating his probation by committing further crimes in the Griffin Judicial Circuit in particular that would lead Cooper to appear before Sams again.

Cooper is one of several defendants charged in separate schemes to sell stolen autos at local scrap yards. The charges have been brought forth by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s investigation began late last year when a local business notified detectives that it had been made aware that the vehicle identification number attached to a recently purchased vehicle had been reported stolen.