A man sentenced for felony offenses in both Bulloch and Effingham counties is wanted by officials after fleeing from his work detail outside metro Atlanta. The news wasn’t released by the Georgia Department of Corrections, but instead in a news release from the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office.
The state correctional system doesn’t usually announce inmate escapes, irrespective of threat level. Authorities said 35-year-old David Emsley Wheeles was reported missing from a correctional work detail in Temple, Georgia in Carroll County around 3:30 p.m.
Wheeles is described as 6’4”, 175 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes, and sporting a mustache, goatee, and black-rimmed glasses.
Wheeles pleaded guilty to Possession of Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine with Intent to Distribute, and Possession of a Drug Object in Bulloch County in August 2023. He was sentenced to ten years to serve for the intent to distribute charge with three years to serve (concurrent) on the possession charge and 12 months confinement (concurrent) on the Drug Object charge. He received credit for time served for his pretrial detention, which amounted to a little more than 115 days.
In November 2023, Wheeles pleaded guilty to a host of felony drug charges, including trafficking, for possessing amphetamine and marijuana stemming from a 2022 arrest. In that case, he received 15 years to serve, followed by five years on probation, concurrent to other sentences. He was also barred from having contact with his wife and ordered to undergo substance abuse treatment.
Wheeles pleaded guilty to felony Terroristic Threats and Acts in Bulloch County in March 2024 for reportedly threatening to murder an individual in September 2023 and received a three year confinement sentence, concurrent to any sentence he was already serving.
He also pleaded guilty to a felony drug case in Effingham in 2023, which yielded a three year sentence concurrent to any other criminal sentence currently being served. Court records also show a felony Theft by Taking charge for Wheeles that was dead docketed in 2009.
Officials are urging residents to stay alert and call 911 immediately if they encounter Wheeles.
