After ATF raid, final probation hearing set for business owner

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Burke County business owner appeared in court Wednesday, facing possible revocation of his federal probation after his auto shop was raided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

News 12 was at the federal courthouse when Daniel Cates arrived for the hearing. The Waynesboro business owner walked step-for-step with his attorney into the federal courthouse.

Magistrate Judge Brian Epps was on the bench.

ATF and the Department of Homeland Security said they found 45 weapons in Cates’ possession, 25 at Cates Firestone and 20 at his home, according to authorities. That included a rifle with a silencer and 6,000 rounds of ammunition found between both locations.

That could be a violation of the probation he received for involvement in a decades-long illegal gambling operation.

The agencies obtained search warrants for both locations after Cates attempted to order a silencer online. He was ordered to surrender to U.S Marshals on Wednesday morning before the hearing — and he did.

In the courtroom, attorneys called this “a blatant disregard of sentencing,” and Cates “will continue to disregard the law while he’s out.”

Epps said this could mean five to eight years imprisonment. A spokesperson with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia says Cates will be booked and held in Jefferson or Lincoln County.

A final hearing on probation revocation was initially set for June 13, but the judge rescheduled it for June 18.

Last year, the I-TEAM conducted an investigation of Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams’ connection to the owner of the business, Daniel Cates.

Daniel Cates is a name our I-TEAM has run across before. Last year, the I-TEAM looked into the connection between Cates and Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams. Sheriff Williams insisted the sheriff’s department use Cates Firestone for deputy vehicle repairs and maintenance, instead of Burke County’s own maintenance shop with county employees.

Cates Firestone had already been at the center of a federal investigation.

Cates and Grady Brandon Mobley pleaded guilty in a decades-long illegal gambling operation — where hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings were illegally funneled through businesses, including $250,000 funneled through Cates Firestone.

Cates was sentenced to three years of probation. Mobley was sentenced to five years of probation and ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution.

Now, Cates finds himself headed back to court after this most recent search of his business.

Court records show Mobley violated his probation on May 2 for using and possessing alcohol – along with getting arrested.

The I-TEAM obtained federal court documents and found Williams was a character witness for Mobley, lobbying for a lesser sentence and calling him a “model citizen.”

Campaign records show both the Mobley and Cates families were big contributors to Williams’ campaign for sheriff.

Authorities haven’t released information about what they were looking for in the recent ATF raid. The I-TEAM has requested search warrants from federal court, but they are not public record yet.

Court documents show a Notice of Hearing as to Daniel Cates. The final probation revocation hearing set for June 13 at 10 a.m. in Augusta before District Judge J. Randall Hall.

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