Another charge filed in Cheyenne Sauls case
by Mitch Sneed/Douglas County Sentinel
Feb 16, 2013 | 1821 views | 0 0 comments | 3 3 recommendations | email to a friend | print
The final person waiting for legal closure as a part of the probe into a 2011 fatal crash has had the accusations against him filed officially.

Douglas County Solicitor General Matthew Krull said Friday that six counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one count of keeping a disorderly house were filed against Richard Todd McAllister.

The charges carry a maximum penalty of up to 12 months in jail per count and a fine of up to $1,000 per count.

“We will now allow the legal process to work and look for resolution of this case,” Krull said.

It was McAllister’s whose home at 4241 Sterling Pointe Drive in Douglas County that was the site of a Feb. 18, 2011, bonfire party that was attended by a number of teens, including Cheyenne Sauls of Villa Rica.

Sauls died when a Chevy Blazer driven by Jason Lark overturned in the early morning hours of Feb. 19, 2011. The 16-year-old Villa Rica High School was ejected from the vehicle after the crash and died from her injuries.

The accident came after a night on which a group had gone to a number of gatherings at homes, where underage drinking is alleged to have taken place. The party at the McAllister home was one of those gatherings, according to previous court testimony.

Lark was charged with vehicular homicide and agreed to a guilty plea and is serving seven years in prison as a part of his deal.

Co-defendant Dustin Willis pleaded guilty on April 11, 2012, to vehicular homicide and two counts of causing serious injury by vehicle. Willis was sentenced to 15 years on each of three counts, at least nine of which must be served. Willis’ sentences will run concurrently.

Former Chapel Hill Package Store owner Rakeshbhai “Rocky” Patel plead guilty to two counts or selling alcohol to minors. Patel entered the non-negotiated plea and actually served nearly a month in jail as a result after a 12 month sentence was handed down. Patel also paid two $500 fines.

Two that Patel allegedly sold alcohol to, Justin Todd McAllister, 18, and 19-year-old Travis Alexander Platt also plead guilty in the case. Justin McAllister was fined and sentenced to a year probation for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a misdemeanor, in Douglas County State Court. Platt, 18-year-old Christopher Roth and 71-year-old Sherman Isiah Bennett Sr. were each fined and sentenced to a year probation for similar charges last year.
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