By Joe Johnson
Several members of a Georgia drug-trafficking organization have entered plea deals in connection with the gruesome murder of a Barrow woman two years ago.
Rossana Delgado,37, of Bethlehem was murdered in a cabin in Gilmer County in April 2021. Her body was found Apr. 20, 2021, days after she had reported as missing.
Authorities said Delgado was last seen alive April 16 in DeKalb County. She was the mother of two children who worked for a taxi service in Gwinnett County, according to the Barrow County Sheriff's Office, which said the woman’s husband reported her missing on April 17.
The husband reportedly tracked Delgado’s phone to a location near Chamblee, where he also found a blood-stained mask.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office found Delgado's body 10 days later during a welfare check at a home in the Gilmer County community of Cherry Log.
An investigation revealed that she had been lured to the Plaza Fiesta shopping mall in DeKalb County Apr. 16, 2021, where she was kidnapped. She was then bound and tortured at several locations in Clayton and Gilmer Counties.
14 people were charged in connection with her death. Their trial was set to begin May 1. However, multiple defendants entered plea deals, avoiding a trial.
Oscar Manuel Garcia pleaded guilty to malice murder, kidnapping, concealing the death of another, aggravated battery and violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and removal of body parts from scene of death. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Juan Ayala-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to kidnapping, concealing the death of another, aggravated battery and violation of the RICO Act. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Juan Antonio Vega pleaded guilty to kidnapping, concealing the death of another, aggravated battery and violation of the RICO Act. He was sentenced to 70 years and must serve 30 in prison.
Megan Alyssa Colone pleaded guilty to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. She was sentenced to 20 years and must serve 18 in prison.
Eva Galicia Martinez pleaded guilty to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. She was sentenced to 20 years and must serve 13 in prison.
Terri Amanda Garner, Patrick Harvard, Calvin Harvard and Shawn Callaway pleaded guilty to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Each was sentenced to time served followed by probation.
Indicted codefendants Mario Alberto Barbosa-Juarez, Carolina Jazmin Rodriguez Ramirez and Maria Katherine Encarnacion remain at large.