Burke County business owner sentenced after federal probation raid

WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Burke County business owner Daniel Blount Cates has been sentenced to more than three years in prison with three years of supervised release after a federal probation violation.

The sentencing took place during a hearing Tuesday where he was told he also must pay a $20,000 fine plus a $100 special assessment under a plea agreement, according to court records.

The plea resulted from Cates’ possession of 45 firearms on May 29, 2024, while serving a federal probation sentence over an illegal gambling business.

A judge previously revoked his probation on June 18, 2024, based on the new offense and re-sentenced Cates to 15 months confinement followed by a year of supervised release.

Cates agreed to a guilty plea for firearm possession after being found in violation of his federal probation after his auto shop was raided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

During the February hearing, Cates agreed that on or about May 29, 2024, even though he knew he was on probation, did knowingly possess the firearms listed in the document.

Last June, in federal court, Daniel Cates was found in violation of his probation stemming from his prior conviction in 2022.

The same judge in that case was the judge in this matter.

24 people showed up on Cates’ behalf at the hearing.

The sentencing details are as follows:

• 15 months of confinement followed by a supervised release of 12 months.
• Re-imposition of the original probation conditions.

“The victims are your family, your friends,” the judge told him. “Revocation is mandatory.”

Cates had more than 15 character references, two of which were sealed.

The government was really interested in two specific firearms.

One was an old AR 15 that had full auto function, which requires a tax stamp. Also of interest was another AR platform with a suppressor on it, which you need a tax stamp for. It was just a regular rifle, but it had a suppressor.

Cates’ attorney had suggested further probation.

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 was while he was on probation for involvement in a decades-long illegal gambling operation.

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 News 12 has run across before. Last year, we 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.

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