Man behind drug operation targeting metro Atlanta kids drops Sovereign Citizen strategy, pleads guilty
Addae Simmons, 24, pleaded guilty to selling drug-laced snacks.
DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. - Four years after the FOX 5 I-Team exposed a drug network targeting metro high schools, the mastermind pleaded guilty in Douglas County.
Addae Simmons, 24, admitted selling drug-infused snacks twice to an undercover Douglasville police officer. Simmons originally refused to even acknowledge his own name in court, claiming he was not subject to its jurisdiction.
But the so-called "Sovereign Citizen" defense actually made things even worse for the Fairburn man.
In 2017, a group of mothers approached the FOX 5 I-Team furious with what happened to their daughters at a Sweet Sixteen birthday party.
Unbeknownst to them, the girls had ordered drug-infused brownies and other snacks from a company that advertised on Instagram called Trill Treats. One of the girls ate too much and had to be hospitalized.
From the Trill Treats Instagram page mentioning sales at Westlake High School.
The Instagram page featured $100 specials and promised in-person delivery for an extra $5. In the fall of 2017, the FOX 5 I-Team placed an order.
Simmons showed up with a box of snacks.
"A lot of people buy from you? High schoolers too?" asked our undercover producer. "Yeah, I started in high school doing this," Simmons said. "So when I graduated (people) knew about it and I kept selling."
A lab tested what we bought and determined the THC levels were four times more potent than what’s legally allowed in Colorado or Washington, states where pot edibles are legal.
Douglasville police took possession of what we bought, then made two buys of their own. In December 2017, Trill Treats went out of business when police arrested Simmons.
Fulton County police searched the Fairburn home Simmons shared with his parents and recovered evidence of his drug operation everywhere, including ledgers showing which high schools he targeted and who was selling on his behalf.
Douglas County charged him with four felonies. If convicted on all counts, Simmons faced a maximum sentence of 94 years.
That’s when his family decided on a different legal strategy.
Starting in 2019, they filed a series of nonsensical motions, prompting Simmons to miss a court date. He was ordered back to jail in 2019 where he has remained ever since.
Douglas County Assistant District Attorney Roland Turner said Simmons turned down a plea deal last week of 10 years, two in custody, a sentence that would have likely released him immediately for time served. The deal was taken off the table once the trial began.
Simmons insisted on representing himself, refusing to change out of his jail uniform.
During jury selection Monday, Judge Grant Brantley ordered Simmons’ brother Jabari jailed for contempt of court for refusing to give him his real name. Later, his parents were banned from the courtroom for repeated interruptions. At one point, his father Gary unfurled what he claimed to be a flag from the "Empire of Morocco."
They consider themselves Moors who are not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. law.
Experts say the so-called "Sovereign Citizen" defense has never worked.
After spending years refusing to be represented in court, Simmons agreed Tuesday to use a public defender. Alison Frutoz said Simmons got "terrible advice from people who didn't understand the law."
But overnight, Simmons changed his mind and agreed to be represented by public defender Alison Frutoz.
"He was getting terrible advice from people who didn't understand the law," Frutoz told the court.
Instead of time served, he was sentenced to 15 years, five to serve and a $1000 fine. Including the time he’s already spent in custody, Simmons could be released in the next year.
And Judge Brantley said he would drop the probation once Simmons graduates from an accredited college.
"You have to be your own man," Brantley told Simmons. "You have to be responsible for your own life."
No other family members were in attendance as Simmons was led back to jail.