Four men charged

with participating in a multi-state stolen tractor theft ring that operated

in Fayette County have been released from jail after prosecutors decided

not to retry a case against two of the men that ended in a mistrial in

April.

Three of the

men Kenneth James Green of Griffin, Lewis Gilbert Shirley of Fayetteville

and Larry Franklin Whitaker of Griffin have been sentenced to time served

in jail and placed on probation. Prosecutors dropped charges against Bobby

Leon Green of Atlanta as a condition of the plea agreement for Kenneth

Green, his brother, said Fayette County District Attorney Bill McBroom.

Bobby Green,

however, was arrested the day after his release from jail by Albany officers

on charges relating to the case, McBroom said.

Kenneth Green

was recently sentenced to nine years probation and time served after pleading

guilty to conspiracy to commit theft by taking. He also agreed to relinquish

his rights to all property that was seized from his Griffin home during

the investigation, including tools and household property with a combined

value of $7,690, according to court documents.

In April the

Green brothers were tried on state racketeering and conspiracy charges.

But a mistrial was declared after the Fayette jury couldn't agree on a

verdict.

Shirley and

Whitaker, who entered guilty pleas in the case last year, had their prison

sentences wiped clean Friday when they were resentenced to time served

and four years on probation. Shirley and Whitaker cooperated with prosecutors

and testified against the Green brothers in the first trial.

But since Kenneth

Green received no jail time after his guilty plea, it didn't make sense

for Shirley and Whitaker to serve a harsher sentence than Green, McBroom

said.

"They

kept their part of the bargain," McBroom said.

Shirley had

been sentenced to five years in prison while Whitaker was sentenced to

six years in prison.

If convicted

of the conspiracy charges, the Greens would have faced up to 20 years

in prison.

The decision

to accept Green's plea was made largely because of several uncooperative

witnesses, McBroom said. Those witnesses had tractors and other equipment

stolen from their businesses in other states and in several locations

in south Georgia, McBroom said.

"Those

witnesses were not cooperative with us at all ... because the insurance

company had already paid them for the stolen tractors," McBroom said.

McBroom also

said the case against the Greens was complex and difficult for a jury

to comprehend.