A Douglas County grand jury indicted a man on charges that he used counterfeit coupons to buy cigarettes at dozens of Georgia stores for less than $2 a pack.
What’s Happening: Attorney General Chris Carr announced March 6 that his office’s Organized Retail Crime Unit obtained an indictment against Michael Justin Williams in Douglas County. The grand jury returned the indictment on Feb. 18.
The Charges: Williams faces one count of violating Georgia’s RICO law, which stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and is used to prosecute patterns of criminal activity, and six counts of forgery.
What’s Important: According to the indictment, Williams made, altered, and possessed fake coupons that claimed to give $8 off one pack of Newport cigarettes. The coupons were not authorized by the manufacturer or the stores.
By the Numbers: The alleged scheme ran from June 10 to July 9, 2025, and involved 20 separate incidents at RaceTrac, Family Dollar, and Parker’s Kitchen locations across 13 Georgia cities: Mableton, Lithia Springs, Douglasville, Norcross, Forest Park, Atlanta, McDonough, East Point, Riverdale, Stone Mountain, Bogart, Pooler, and Metter.
How This Affects Real People: Georgia businesses lose an estimated $3 billion to retail theft each year, according to the Attorney General’s Office. That figure includes $1.6 billion in stolen goods, $326 million in lost tax revenue, and an estimated 17,000 lost jobs.
What We Know: The case was investigated by asset protection teams at RaceTrac, Family Dollar, and Parker’s Kitchen, along with the Douglas Police Department, the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, and the Attorney General’s Organized Retail Crime Unit.
The Path Forward: Williams is presumed innocent. The state must prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt at trial. The Attorney General’s Office said no further details about the investigation will be released.
Catch Up Quick: Carr created Georgia’s first statewide Organized Retail Crime Unit in 2024 with support from Governor Brian Kemp and the General Assembly. The unit investigates and prosecutes criminal networks involved in repeated thefts and violence targeting businesses across the state.
