Accompanied by his attorney, Kendrick Chepell Dudley, 30, of Ellenwood, Ga., surrendered to authorities at the Augusta-Richmond County Law Enforcement Center. Jail records said only that he was booked on a grand jury arrest warrant, but attorney Charles H. Lyons III said his client was charged with racketeering.

Three people arrested in the same case Thursday - Laverne Ellis, 28, Ronnie Overton, 21, and Charles Winters, 27 - also face racketeering charges. New grand jury charges were filed Friday against Ronald Coleman Jr., 29, and Carlston Winslow Coleman Jr., 30, but exactly what those charges are has not been released. District Attorney Danny Craig has declined to discuss the case until the indictment is unsealed.

The Colemans, who police say are not related, were indicted earlier this year in the kidnapping and slaying of Sam's Club Manager David Holt in 1998, but officials with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office said last week's indictment does not involve that killing. Sheriff Ronnie Strength said it is related to previous killings outside Warrenton.

On July 24, 1997, the bodies of Ryan Joseph Singh, 21, and Manuel Bernardo Arroyo, 19, both of Augusta, were found in a burning car in Warren County. Investigators with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had long been trying to connect the Colemans to the case.

Mr. Dudley's younger brother, Alex Moore, 21, of Augusta, said his brother, Mr. Overton and Mr. Winters are all innocent. The group grew up together and know the Colemans but are not close to them, he said.

He said he did not know why authorities think his older brother or his friends are involved.

``We're close. We're tight,'' Mr. Moore said. ``If anything happened, we'd have talked about it. This just popped up, and I didn't know about it.''

Reach Johnny Edwards at (706) 823-3225.