FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — Actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish avoided additional jail time Tuesday when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor alcohol-related driving charge that stemmed from her 2022 arrest in Georgia after someone called 911 about a driver asleep at the wheel at a traffic light.

Other charges were dropped. After entering the plea by video, Haddish was placed on 12 months’ probation and told to avoid drugs and alcohol and complete a substance abuse evaluation. She was credited for the brief time she spent in jail following her arrest.

Haddish’s films include the comedy “Girls Trip,” “Night School,” “Like a Boss” and “The Kitchen.” She wrote the New York Times bestseller “The Last Black Unicorn,” which earned a Grammy nomination for a subsequent audiobook she narrated. In 2018, she won an Emmy for her appearance on “Saturday Night Live” and a Grammy in 2021 for her special “Black Mitzvah.”

At around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 14, 2022, someone called 911 to report seeing a person who appeared to be asleep in the driver’s seat of a white Ford Explorer with their foot on the brake in Peachtree City, about 30 miles south of Atlanta, according to a court filing. An officer spotted an SUV that matched the description given by the caller and stopped Haddish as she pulled into a neighborhood, according to a police report.

Haddish’s lawyers in May asked a judge to dismiss the case, arguing that waiting more than four years for the case to be resolved had caused personal and professional difficulties and violated her right to a speedy trial. Fayette County State Court Judge Jason Thompson rejected her arguments.

The judge found that Haddish and her attorneys had requested some of the delays, including a request for a delay so she could attend a fashion show in Morocco and a request to leave a hearing early to catch a flight. He wrote that she also did not show any evidence of having missed specific performing opportunities or of actual financial harm because of the delay.

Haddish also was arrested in November 2023 in Beverly Hills, California, on suspicion of driving under the influence after police received a call and said Haddish appeared to be slumped over the wheel of a vehicle while the engine was still running.

Haddish reached a plea deal with prosecutors in that case in February 2024, pleading no contest to a vehicle code violation, and the two misdemeanor DUI charges against her were dropped, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company, is at the center of a national conversation about safety and personal privacy.

The company operates a nationwide system of license plate reader cameras, as well as other law enforcement assistance technologies, that allow agencies to more accurately identify specific vehicles that may have been involved in a crime.

However, opponents of the technology say it creates a system of surveillance that not only is used for crime fighting, but to also track residents and create profiles of people independent of their involvement in anything illegal.

There has also been a long list of law enforcement officers across the country who have used the database created by Flock, and other license plate reader companies, to make personal searches and stalk and harass people.

Following a string of arrests of officers in Georgia, the Atlanta Police Department said it would conduct it’s own audit.

Atlanta Police announce proactive audit

The Atlanta Police Department announced Monday it would be moving forward with a “proactive audit of personnel usage of license plate reader technology” within the agency.

The department said it “values public trust in its use of all necessary tools and technology,” but is “unable to provide additional details at this time.”

Atlanta Police did not specify that the license plate readers are operated by Flock Safety, but Flock tracking organizations have reported more than 240 Flock cameras within the Atlanta city limits, with many more in the greater Atlanta metro.

Unflocked, and anti-license plate reader organization, reports more than 3,000 agencies have access to Flock’s camera network, and Atlanta is seen as “ground zero” for Flock cameras as the company’s headquarters. Primary corridors of Flock camera usage are along I-285, I-75, I-85, Peachtree Road, Roswell Road and throughout suburban HOA communities, according to Unflocked.

More than a dozen GA officers arrested

The internal audit, whether of Flock cameras or other license plate readers, comes as more than a dozen law enforcement officers across Georgia have been arrested for misuse of the technology in recent weeks.

In June, an internal audit in Albany, Georgia, assisted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, found five Albany Police officers had been using the Flock license plate camera system for personal searches. Officers faced between two and 12 counts of misuse, and were against officers between the ages of 23 and 32.

The same month, two supervisor-level officers with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office were arrested and terminated for accessing the agency’s Automated License Plate Reader system for non-investigation reasons. A deputy faced the same charges from the department earlier in the month and was also let go.

In July, a sheriff’s deputy from Greene County is faced the same charges for accessing the Flock system for personal reasons over a three-month period, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office said.

Later in the month, a 17-year veteran of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office was fired and arrested for misusing Flock license plate data, which was identified during an internal probe.

Four officers in Richmond County and three officers in Fayetteville all face similar charges in recent weeks. But misuse of license plate readers by law enforcement in Georgia goes back even further.

In recent reporting from the Washington Post, the case of former Braselton Police Chief Michael Steffman was investigated further as his ex-girlfriend says “Have I been Flocked” data shows he searched for her vehicle tags, and those of her daughter, more than 600 times. Steffman was arrested on charges of harassment and stalking using license plate readers in November 2025.

ATLANTA – Federal authorities in Atlanta secured a trial conviction against a 41-year-old Douglasville man for his role in a transnational scam that laundered $2.7 million from elderly victims. 

Atlanta money laundering conviction

What we know:

A federal jury convicted 41-year-old Babajide Adesayo of Douglasville on Thursday following an eight-day trial. Jurors found him guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 16 counts of transactional money laundering. 

Federal prosecutors said Adesayo belonged to an international network that tricked elderly victims into sending their retirement savings to business accounts owned by co-defendant Efemena Igbe, a Nigerian national. Igbe transferred the cash to Adesayo under false claims that the funds were for buying cars from Adesayo’s automotive business. Adesayo then wired the money to foreign accounts in China, Hong Kong and Nigeria. 

Federal online fraud scheme

The backstory:

Online fraudsters tricked victims between April 2020 and September 2021 by posing as friends, romantic partners or business associates. Scam artists made false claims that they needed funds for business equipment, medical care or legal trouble. 

Adesayo moved over $2.7 million during a 17-month span. Following his arrest in June 2024, he received bond without bail requirements but continued to launder money sent to his accounts while awaiting trial. A federal magistrate judge revoked his bond, and Adesayo has remained in federal custody since March 2. 

Georgia federal court evidence

What they’re saying:

“Adesayo was a key member of a complex, transnational network that preyed upon elderly victims and siphoned their retirement savings overseas, mainly to China, Hong Kong, and Nigeria, to make recovery impossible,” U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg said. “As a prolific money launderer, Adesayo facilitated the theft of nearly $3 million from victims and continued even after he was indicted, arrested, and released on bond.” 

“Adesayo helped steal millions from vulnerable victims, including elderly people who lost their hard-earned savings,” FBI Atlanta Special Agent in Charge Marlo Graham said. Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Steven N. Schrank added that federal agencies will continue targeting financial facilitators who move illicit funds beyond the reach of law enforcement. 

What we don’t know:

Officials have not released the exact number of individual victims affected by the scam. Federal authorities have also not stated whether any of the stolen $2.7 million has been recovered for the victims. 

Douglasville defendant court case

By the numbers:

• $2.7 million: Total amount of stolen victim funds received and moved by Adesayo over 17 months. 
• 18: Total counts on which Adesayo was convicted, including two conspiracy counts and 16 transactional money laundering counts. 
• 20: Maximum years in prison Adesayo faces for each conspiracy count. 
• 10: Maximum years in prison he faces for each transactional money laundering count, plus up to 10 consecutive years for committing offenses while on release. 

What’s next:

U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen scheduled Adesayo’s sentencing for Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m. Adesayo remains in federal custody while awaiting sentencing.