Atlanta Solidarity Fund Organizers Move to Dismiss Unindicted ‘Charities Fraud’ Charges Nearly Three Years After Their Arrests

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 30, 2026

Atlanta Solidarity Fund Organizers Move to Dismiss Unindicted ‘Charities Fraud’ Charges Nearly Three Years After Their Arrests

Despite Attorney General Chris Carr’s Attempts to Crush Support for the #StopCopCity Movement, He Has Failed to Sustain Racketeering, Money Laundering Charges

ATLANTA, GA – Three organizers with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund (Sol Fund 3), who were indicted in August 2023 on State racketeering (RICO) and money laundering charges, are moving to dismiss their unindicted ‘charities fraud’ charges, stemming from a police raid on their home and arrests in May 2023, the same arrests underlying the RICO charges. Notably, the money laundering charges brought against the bail fund organizers—known for their support of activists and movement organizers—were dismissed in September 2024, and the RICO charges were dismissed in December 2025. The Sol Fund 3 will have a hearing on their motion to dismiss unindicted fraud charges in DeKalb County this Friday, May 1, before retired Superior Court Judge David Irwin.

    What: Hearing on motion to dismiss unindicted fraud charges for Atlanta Solidarity Fund organizers
    When: Friday, May 1, 2026 at 1pm
    Where: Room 5B, Dekalb County Superior Court, 556 North McDonough Street, Decatur, GA 30030

NOTE: Judge Irwin denied livestream capability, but the Atlanta Community Press Collective will record the hearing. Following the hearing, media can view the proceedings here: https://www.youtube.com/@AtlPressCollective/videos, or email nolan@atlpresscollective.comfor a downloadable copy.

The Sol Fund 3 motion to dismiss, which will be heard on Friday, argues that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr “employs the power of the State to disrupt Defendants’ lives and work with extreme charges to quash political dissent.” The motion further argues that the State’s delay in bringing an indictment has violated the organizers’ right to due process under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Georgia. In addition to the due process violations, lawyers for the Sol Fund 3 are moving for dismissal based on their right to a speedy trial.

Following the violent police raid on their home in May 2023, members of the Sol Fund 3—Savannah Patterson, Adele Maclean, and Marlon Kautz—were arrested for allegedly violating the Charitable Solicitations Act and money laundering. In August 2023, they were not only indicted on RICO charges in Fulton County but also an additional 14 counts of money laundering. Despite the failure to sustain the RICO and money laundering charges, Attorney General Carr has refused to dismiss the three-year-old fraud charges.

The Sol Fund 3 motion called the Attorney General’s delay “calculated” and accuses the State of using “explosive charges” to “intimidate the defendants into cooperation.” Despite attempts to coerce defendants into testifying against each other—a common strategy in a prosecutor’s playbook—the State has failed to build a meaningful case against the Sol Fund 3 or any of the 61 #StopCopCity defendants indicted in August 2023. Nevertheless, Carr appealed the dismissal of everyone’s RICO charges in January.

The Sol Fund 3 motion notes that the unindicted charges have impacted the defendants in a number of ways, including the closure of credit cards, getting locked out of bank accounts, inability to access fundraising platforms and thousands of monthly donors, stifling background checks, and the State’s refusal to return numerous personal affects such as diaries, medical information, and one defendant’s letters from a deceased parent. The motion argues that the charges hanging over the defendants’ heads has “a chilling effect on political dissent—likely by design.”

Supporters of the Sol Fund 3 believe their charges were brought in order to incapacitate the Atlanta Solidarity Fund’s life-saving mission of bailing out hundreds of people from some of the deadliest jails in the country. The Sol Fund 3 motion follows several similar motions to dismiss domestic terrorism charges heard by Judge Irwin in March, but not yet ruled on.

The Atlanta Solidarity Fund has operated formally since 2016 and has been recognized nationally and locally for its inspiring work. Despite these setbacks, the Atlanta Solidarity Fund continues to function and can receive donations for bail support here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/atlanta-solidarity-fund.

The 61 RICO defendants, who were arrested on different dates from 2020 to 2023 at various locations across Georgia, have had their lives upended as a result of the charges. Many defendants have experienced job losses, housing issues, career disruptions, and travel restrictions, in addition to the stress and anxiety that comes from the threat of years in prison hanging over their heads.

Over 170 people have been arrested so far during protests against Cop City. The facility was completed last year despite mass opposition from Atlanta residents, including a multi-year campaign with a wide range of tactics by environmentalists, abolitionists, students, teachers, anarchists, Indigenous activists, faith leaders and others. A 2023 ballot initiative petition effort to put Cop City to a direct vote by Atlanta residents collected over 116,000 signatures, more than double the votes that Mayor Andre Dickens received in 2021, but local officials refused to verify the signatures.

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For more information on the sweeping criminal cases, and ways to support the defendants and the movement to Stop Cop City, go to: weelauneethefree.org and fireantmovementdefense.org.