(Cleveland) – White County Superior Court Judge Joy Parks has denied bond for former Cleveland auto dealer Mitch Simpson. He was arrested March 26th after customers complained that his dealership south of Cleveland closed suddenly leaving vehicle purchasers without paperwork to register their vehicles and obtain tags.
Officials initially obtained three warrants before he was arrested. On Thursday, prior to the bond hearing, the state produced two additional warrants charging Simpson with theft.
During the over two-hour hearing, defense attorney Jeff Wolff called five witnesses, including Simpson’s mother and former White County Tax Commissioner J.H. Tow, Jr., who all stated they believed Simpson would not be a flight risk before his trial.
Assistant District Attorney Bill Clark called Georgia Department of Revenue investigator Brian Crisp and White County Sheriff investigator Clay Hammond.
Enotah Judicial Circuit District Attorney Jeff Langley said following the hearing, “Bond is denied at this point, that provides us 90 days from the time of his arrest to present this to a grand jury, and we’ll be working to try and make that deadline with as complete of an indictment as we can obtain at that point.”
Langley added that his office’s top priority was making sure people were able to get their vehicle tags.
Defense Attorney Jeff Wolff said, ” I certainly respect judge Parks and her decisions and respect the courts. I think my client would be an excellent candidate for bond and would certainly abide by any orders of the courts, so, I’m hoping in time we can get the court to agree to let him out on bond. He is certainly needed to aid in his defense.”
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