COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A personal injury attorney is accused of helping smuggle dangerous synthetic marijuana into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center.
Attorney Joseph Anfield-El and three other suspects are facing charges following a months-long investigation by the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office MCS Narcotics Unit.
Sheriff Craig Owens said the investigation began after a deputy noticed something unusual during an attorney visit.
“In this instance we had an astute deputy paying attention to what the attorney was doing,” Sheriff Owens said.
“It was observed during an attorney visit that the attorney brought materials in — paperwork — and the attorney did not leave with materials,” Col. Ryan Mehling said. “That material did contain the K2. It was then distributed throughout the jail.”
Investigators say the synthetic drug, commonly known as K2, was soaked into paper and disguised as what appeared to be legal documents and Muslim prayers.
According to the indictment, Monae Muhammad is accused of disguising the drugs before they were allegedly delivered into the jail.
Investigators say attorney Anfield-El then delivered the documents to inmate Shawn Harris. They say Harris and James Baltimore sold the drugs to other inmates.
Sheriff Owens said K2 can be deadly.
“You can die from that type of stuff,” Sheriff Owens said. “We immediately changed our protocols for visiting attorneys in our facility.”
“They were able to identify other participants in this investigation, which led to the indictment and now the arrest of the attorney,” Mehling said.
Owens emphasized that the investigation involves one attorney and does not represent the legal profession as a whole.
“All attorneys are not bad,” Owens said. “This is just one we’re talking about.”
Anfield-El markets himself on social media as an advocate for his clients. In one Instagram video, he says his law firm is compassionate about what clients are going through.
“He didn’t respect this facility and, in my mind, he didn’t service the clients,” Sheriff Owens said. “Yeah, he serviced them, but not the way he should’ve been servicing them with legal services.”
The sheriff’s office said the investigation involved extensive work by investigators and prosecutors with the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office.
The indictment includes charges related to violations of Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, use of a communication facility to facilitate drug trafficking, and offenses involving the introduction of contraband into a detention facility.
Channel 2 Action News contacted attorney Anfield-El’s law firm and left a message with a receptionist seeking comment.
The Cobb County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement:
“On July 9th, 2026, The Office of the District Attorney for the Cobb Judicial Circuit secured an indictment against Shawn Ray Harris, Moane Muhammad, James Damato Balitmore, and Joseph Anfield-El. All defendants are alleged to have violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, having comprised a criminal enterprise that smuggled indazole amide into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center during the period between February of 2025 through November of 2025and distributed the K2 throughout the jail. The criminal enterprise was discovered through a months long investigation by The Marietta Cobb Smyrna Narcotics Task Force.
Indazole amides are highly potent, structurally engineered designer drugs used as the active ingredients in synthetic cannabinoids (SC), commonly known as K2 or Spice. They act as powerful full agonists at brain cannabinoid receptors and are often significantly stronger and more dangerous than naturally occurring THC. This Office cautions the public that users are at high risk for severe side effects. Reported toxicities include acute psychosis, severe agitation, rapid heart rate (bradycardia), dangerously lowered body temperature (hypothermia), seizures, and even brain edema.”
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