On Wednesday, June 12th, 2019, former Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) employee, Natasha Bray, and her husband, Devore Bray, pled guilty under First Offender to violations of O.C.G.A. § 16-14-4(a)- Racketeering. The Brays were both sentenced to serve 10 years of probation, 90 days in jail, and ordered to pay full restitution in the amount of $222,233.85.

Natasha Bray utilized her position at the Department of Juvenile Justice to create, submit, and approve falsified invoices for payment to a fictitious shell company, Lowes Enterprise, that was created by the Brays. To accomplish this and to avoid detection, Natasha Bray fabricated invoices and other documentation that would generate a payment that the Brays would, in turn, deposit to a bank account created by Devore Bray. Through their fraudulent activity, the Brays embezzled approximately $222,233.85 from DJJ.

This case was initially referred by DJJ to the Office of the State Inspector General (OIG) who requested assistance from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and was investigated by former Deputy Inspector General Austin Mayberry of the OIG and Special Agent Deborah Loving of the GBI. Assistant Attorney General Sandra Bailey prosecuted the case.