*We’re sure Stacey Abrams, the 2-time Georgia gubernatorial candidate, is not thrilled that her name is being drug through the media mud all because her brother-in-law, Jimmie Gardner, has caught a high-profile criminal case.
And to make matters seem even worse, Gardner is the husband of Georgia Federal Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner. Oh yeah, the problem Mr. Gardner is facing is human trafficking charges.
On Friday (11-17-23), Gardner, 57, was arrested in Tampa, Florida after a 16-year-old girl said she had been involved in sexual acts with him inside a hotel room.
The girl reportedly told Tampa police that Gardner contacted her just before 1:45am and invited her to his hotel room and she accepted.
After she arrived at his room, Gardner reportedly offered to pay her for sex. She says she initially agreed, but when she changed her mind, Gardner got pissed off and started choking her.
Fortunately, he stopped before he caused any bodily damage and left. That’s when the young girl says she called 911.
By the time police arrived, Gardner was gone. However, he was arrested just a few hours later, according to jail records.
As we noted above, he’s charged with human trafficking. Add to that charges of lewd or lascivious touching of a minor and battery.
Gardner spent 26 years in prison for sexual assault on a wrongful conviction
Wait. There’s more. In 1990, Gardner was wrongfully convicted of sexually assaulting an elderly woman in West Virginia. After more than 26 years in prison, his conviction was vacated and he was released from prison in 2016, according to WSB-TV.
In 2018 after his release, he married Judge Abrams Gardner, who serves as a federal judge in the Middle District of Georgia, and began working as a motivational speaker.
“Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence. Our attorneys will prosecute this case as we would any other offender who is alleged to have committed these crimes. We take these charges very seriously,” said Florida State Attorney Suzy Lopez.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: Howard University Appoints Stacey Abrams As Inaugural Ronald W. Walters Endowed Chair for Race and Black Politics
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