Stacey Abrams brother-in-law’s bond set after human trafficking arrest in Tampa
TAMPA, Fla. - Jimmie Gardner, motivational speaker and brother-in-law of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, made his first appearance virtually in a Hillsborough County courtroom Saturday, one day after he was arrested on allegations of human trafficking.
A judge set his bond at $500,000 despite his attorney, Jeff Brown, being present to argue that Gardner is not a threat to the community.
"He played baseball out of here, he's well known here, he was down here as a motivational speaker for a seminar," Brown said.
Also present in the courtroom was his wife, Georgia federal judge Leslie Abrams, who flew down from Albany, Georgia to support her husband. She is the sister of Stacey Abrams, who ran for Georgia Governor in 2018.
According to authorities, 57-year-old Gardner made contact with a 16-year-old girl around 1:40 a.m. Friday and invited her back to his room at the Renaissance Hotel at International Plaza.
Investigators said when she arrived, Gardner offered the girl money in exchange for sex, which she initially agreed to before changing her mind.
That's when Gardner reportedly became angry - telling the girl she needed to leave the hotel room, which sparked a verbal argument that quickly became physical when Gardner started choking her.
READ: Suspect accused of murdering Tampa man he met on Grindr waives right to bond hearing
Police said they found the victim at the scene when they arrived, but Gardner had already left the hotel.
He later turned himself in to Tampa Police.
According to his website, Gardner was raised by his great-aunt in Tampa, and graduated from Tampa Bay Technical High School.
In 1984, Gardner was drafted by the Chicago Cubs. Five years later, Gardner was wrongly convicted in the 1987 sexual assault of two women in West Virginia.
He was exonerated and released from prison in 2016.
"I've been fighting for this and I believe in God and praise," Gardner said in an interview with WHCS FOX 11 after being released.
In the years after his release, Gardner became an advocate for criminal justice reform and inmate rights, and often spoke in Tampa.