East Ridge News Online

Your Local News Source

  • Home
  • News
  • Crime
    • Arrest Reports
    • Court Dockets & Dispositions
  • Opinions
    • Read Opinions
    • Submit An Opinion
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • More
    • Business
    • Community
    • Good Eats
  • Contact US
    • Contact Us
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Submit An Opinion
You are here: Home / Crime News / Atlanta-Area Couple Sentenced for Sex Trafficking Minors

Atlanta-Area Couple Sentenced for Sex Trafficking Minors

August 11, 2020 By Dick Cook and Contributed Article 0 Comments

On August 5, 2020, Savannah Grissum, 22, of Douglasville,
Georgia, and Alonzo Dean Westmoreland, 31, of Kennesaw, Georgia, were sentenced by the Honorable Curtis L. Collier in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Both plead guilty in September 2019 to transporting in commerce an underage victim for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. As part of the plea agreement, Grissum and
Westmoreland admitted to bringing the underage victim from Georgia to Tennessee for the purpose of prostitution. Grissum was sentenced to 78 months in prison, followed by six years’ supervised release; Westmoreland received 108 months in prison and six years’ supervised release. Both will be required to register with the sex offender registry in any state in which they reside, work, or attend school, and comply with special sex offender conditions during the
supervised release.

In June 2018, Cobb County Police Department received a report of a runaway juvenile. The FBI from the Atlanta and Chattanooga divisions, were informed that the juvenile was
located in Chattanooga. Deputies from the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI responded to a local motel, where they recovered the underage victim who had been prostituted in Chattanooga for approximately four days. Grissum and Westmoreland used the proceeds from that illegal activity to pay for their hotel room and other expenses.

The prosecution was the result of a joint investigation led by FBI Special Agents Terrilynn James and Terri L. Green of the Chattanooga Division, and Nathan Whiteman of the
Atlanta Division, Detective Robert Rush of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from Detectives Hunter Llewellyn and Ray Drew with the Cobb County Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Woods represented the United States in court proceedings

Filed Under: Crime News, FEATURED POSTS, News

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.

About Contributed Article


Search Our Site

Will you and your family patronize the new Whataburger coming to East Ridge?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...
  • Polls Archive

Our Sponsors:


Contact Us
Submit A Tip
Copyright Notice
Advertise
Terms of Service
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in