COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) – Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Don Kelly announced the conviction Wednesday of Archie Zanders on RICO and drug trafficking charges. Zanders received a total sentence of 40 years, with the first 25 to serve.
Investigation and seizures
The case stemmed from an eight-month investigation by the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office Collaborative Intelligence Group. On June 9, 2025, the MCSO — along with the GBI West Georgia Gang Task Force, Georgia State Patrol, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the DEA — executed nine search warrants.
The warrants resulted in the seizure of 108 pounds of marijuana, 20 pounds of cocaine, 78 grams of methamphetamine, 158 oxycodone pills, 117 ecstasy pills, 11 firearms — including a 9mm Glock modified to operate in a fully automatic capacity — and $106,409 in U.S. currency. The drugs seized carried an estimated total value of $1,391,785.
Sentencing
Zanders, identified as the leader of the organization, entered a guilty plea July 15, 2026. Chief Judge Arthur L. Smith III sentenced him on the following counts:
- Violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act: 20 years to serve
- Trafficking in cocaine: 40 years, 25 to serve
- Trafficking in methamphetamine or amphetamine: 20 years to serve
- Trafficking in marijuana: 10 years to serve
- Trafficking in ecstasy: 10 years to serve
- Theft by receiving stolen property: 10 years to serve
- Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon: 10 years to serve
Co-defendant sentenced
Another member of the organization, Christopher Mabry, pleaded guilty in April 2026 and received 20 years with 13 years to serve.
Kelly said he wanted to recognize the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office and Assistant District Attorney Bryanne Farr “for working together over the last two years to dismantle a large drug trafficking organization.”…