Attorney General Chris Carr today announced that Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Cara Convery has been hired to lead Georgia’s first statewide Gang Prosecution Unit, effective June 16, 2022.

“Cara Convery has established herself as a force in the field of criminal gang prosecution and is a proven leader in Georgia’s legal community,” said Carr. “Her years of experience handling complex criminal gang cases, her credibility in the courtroom and her rigorous pursuit of justice make her the ideal candidate to lead our new Gang Prosecution Unit. All Georgians deserve to be safe and when our Unit takes effect on July 1, we will work every day to ensure violent criminals are aggressively prosecuted and put behind bars.”

“Gangs are operating in every county in our state,” said Governor Brian P. Kemp. “Like Attorney General Carr, Cara understands the mission we’ve set before her – to aggressively combat and root out gang activity in Georgia. Given the expertise she’s built during her decorated career and her hands-on experience handling major criminal prosecutions, I’m confident in her ability to build and lead a team of dedicated prosecutors and staff as they put criminals behind bars and keep our communities safe.”

As proposed by Governor Kemp and supported by House and Senate leadership, Georgia’s FY 2023 budget includes $1.6 million to establish the new Gang Prosecution Unit. The creation of the Unit is also made possible by HB 1134, legislation that provides the Office of the Attorney General with concurrent jurisdiction to prosecute criminal gang activity statewide. The Unit will be housed in the Attorney General’s Prosecution Division.

“I am excited and humbled to be joining Attorney General Carr as we build upon the work and innovation of the Department of Law’s Prosecution Division through the vehicle of Georgia’s newest and most expansive gang unit,” said Convery. “I look forward to building our team and for us to immediately begin this critical work. By partnering with our local, state and federal partners, we will develop cases that attack our state’s most serious threat to public safety in dangerous criminal street gangs.”

As head of the Gang Prosecution Unit, Convery will lead a team of 11 attorneys and paralegals in prosecuting serious gang crimes across the state. Starting July 1, 2022, the Unit will partner with state agencies, local and federal prosecutors, and law enforcement to build these cases from investigation through trial.

Convery currently serves as the Deputy District Attorney of the Fulton County Gang Unit. In this role, she oversees a team of attorneys and investigators and works alongside state and local law enforcement to prosecute extremely violent offenses and offenders at a high volume. In addition to the Gang Unit, Convery has worked with the Fulton County Trial Unit, the Special Victims Unit and the Major Case Homicide Unit. Prior to joining the Atlanta Judicial Circuit, she served as an Assistant Solicitor General for Cobb County. Convery has handled hundreds of felony cases from arrest to trial and has more than ten years of experience representing the State of Georgia in high-profile murder cases and major criminal prosecutions, including the State v. Cristopher Lockett et al., the State v. Jamel Gines et al., the State v. Jared Kemp and Deasia Page, and the State v. Nicholas Benton. She has also successfully prosecuted some of the most dangerous criminal street gang members in the state using Georgia’s RICO statute. Convery is an instructor with the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council and an active member of the Georgia Gang Investigators Association. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia and her law degree from the University of Miami School of Law.