The first, the sentencing of the six men convicted Nov. 30, should be answered Friday when Ronald Coleman Jr., 29; Jarman L. Harold, 24; Charles D. Winters, 28; Kendric Dudley, 30; and Ronnie B. Overton Jr., 22, make their next court appearance. Three days later, the last of the defendants, Carlston W. Coleman, 31, is scheduled to be sentenced.

Only the two Colemans, who are not related, were convicted of crimes in the Holt case. A third man, David Easterling, pleaded guilty and testified against them, placing the two men at the scene of the June 21, 1998, robbery at the Sam's Club and at the scene of Mr. Holt's death across the Savannah River in South Carolina.

The two Colemans were convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, hijacking a motor vehicle and a weapons charge in that case, but murder charges could not be brought in Augusta because an autopsy confirmed that Mr. Holt, 45, died locked in the trunk of his car in Aiken County. Murder charges could be lodged only in Aiken County or in federal court.

"I'm confident I will talk with the people over there ... about what we can still do here," 2nd Circuit Solicitor Barbara R. Morgan said about her possible plans to prosecute the Colemans on charges of murder. "The RICO statute (in Georgia) was perfect for what they had."

Dan Drake, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of Georgia, said his office had deferred prosecution to state prosecutors and there will not be a federal prosecution.

Even if the two Colemans are never prosecuted on charges of murder, it might not mean any less time in prison. District Attorney Danny Craig, who led the Richmond County prosecution, said he will ask for the maximum - two life sentences plus 65 years.

"My opinion ... is they will probably not prosecute this case (in Aiken County or federal court,)" said Carlston Coleman's attorney, Michael Mann. The only possible additional punishment would be the death penalty, he said.

Mr. Mann said he does not think Warren County prosecutors will seek to try the men on murder charges there either. All six men convicted in Richmond County were accused of crimes here that allegedly led to the June 24, 1997, slayings of Ryan J. Singh, 21, and Manuel B. Arroyo, 19, on a rural dirt road in Warren County.

District Attorney Dennis Sanders, whose circuit includes Warren County, was out of his office last week. Last month Mr. Sanders said he was waiting for the Richmond County case to conclude before deciding what he might do.

Mr. Mann said he believes prosecutors in Aiken and Warren counties would be barred from prosecuting murder charges because the men have already been prosecuted for acts leading up to the slayings. That would violate the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy - being tried more than once for the same crime, he said.

Whether murder trials will be held, one man still remains to stand trial on the RICO charge in Richmond County - an Atlanta resident known only by the aliases of John Travis and Squeaky.

"I'm not sure (if Mr. Travis will be found)," said Mike Seigler, special agent in charge of the area Georgia Bureau of Investigation office. "We have no current leads on him at this time."

According to the prosecution's theory of the deaths of Mr. Arroyo and Mr. Singh, the six men and John Travis conspired to kill the pair because the group decided they had set up Ronald Coleman, Mr. Winters and John Travis to be robbed by Jamaican drug dealers in DeKalb County.

Last week in DeKalb County, investigators arrested former Sheriff Sidney Dorsey and two others - David I. Ramsey and Melvin Walker - on murder charges in the Dec. 15 slaying of reform-minded Sheriff-elect Derwin Brown, who had campaigned on the promise to clean up what he called a corrupt department.

Among allegations raised at the DeKalb County Jail was the accusation of marijuana dealing.

Among the people suspected of having connections with Sheriff-elect Brown's slaying are Mr. Ramsey and Patrick Cuffey, who grew up in the Virgin Islands, and Paul Skyers, who grew up in Jamaica. The Associated Press has reported that Mr. Cuffy and Mr. Skyers' cooperation led to the murder charges.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226or shodson@augustachronicle.