Ralph David Abernathy III
Member of the Georgia State Senate
from the 38th district
In office
January 11, 1993 – January 11, 1999
Preceded byHorace Tate
Succeeded byHoracena Tate
Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
from the 39th district
In office
January 9, 1989 – January 11, 1993
Preceded byJohn W. Greer Jr.
Personal details
Born(1959-03-19)March 19, 1959
Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.
DiedMarch 17, 2016(2016-03-17) (aged 56)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Parent(s)Ralph Abernathy
Juanita Abernathy
RelativesDonzaleigh Abernathy (sister)

Ralph David Abernathy III (March 19, 1959 – March 17, 2016) was an American politician and businessman.

Biography

Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Abernathy was the son of Ralph Abernathy and Juanita Abernathy, the civil rights activists. He was named "III" after his older brother Ralph David Abernathy Jr. who died in infancy. He received his bachelor's degree in English and Linguistics from Morehouse College in 1981. Abernathy owned Clean Air Industries in Atlanta, Georgia. Abernathy served in the Georgia House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1988 and then in the Georgia State Senate in 1992. In 1997, Abernathy was indicted and convicted of smuggling marijuana into the United States from Jamaica, forgery, making a false statement, and witness tampering.[1][2]

In 1999, he was convicted of defrauding the state of Georgia of thousands of dollars in expense money, numerous counts of theft, forgery and tampering with a witness. He was sentenced to four years in prison. Abernathy died of cancer in Atlanta, Georgia on March 17, 2016, two days before his 57th birthday.[3][4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Georgia House of Representatives-Senate Profiles-Senator Ralph David Abernathy III
  2. ↑ Ralph David Abernathy III, son of civil rights icon dies
  3. ↑ Civil Rights Leader's Son Sentenced to Four Years
  4. ↑ Thurbert E. Baker, Attorney General of Georgia (December 21, 1999). "Former State Senator Ralph David Abernathy III Convicted by Fulton County Jury". law.georgia.gov.
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