George Zimmerman back in jail in Trayvon Martin killing
George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer accused of second degree murder in the killing of Miami teenager Trayvon Martin reported back to jail in Seminole County, Florida, after a judge revoked his bond for misleading the court about his finances.
According to a press release from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, Zimmerman “was booked into the John E. Polk Correctional Facility at approximately 1:45 p.m. today pursuant to a court order issued by Judge Lester ordering him to be remanded into custody.” The release further states that Zimmerman will be housed in administrative confinement, separated from the general population from the jail in a cell designed for two prisoners due to the volatile nature of his case. Zimmerman is on “no bond” status, and there is no information available about the date of his next bond hearing from the sheriff’s office.
Zimmerman, 28, had been given 48 hours to surrender to authorities. He was thought to be in hiding outside of Florida awaiting trial. In April, Judge Kenneth Lester set a $150,000 bond — far less than prosecutors had asked for — after Zimmerman, his wife, Shellie, and his parents, pleaded indigence, saying they had no money or assets to sell in order to raise bail money. But prosecutors on Friday went to court to demand that Zimmerman’s bond be revoked, revealing that in telephone conversations with his wife, Zimmerman helped to arrange the transfer of approximately $135,000 into Shellie Zimmerman’s credit union account. The money came from donations made by Zimmerman’s supporters, via his website, TheRealGeorgeZimmerman.com, which was shuttered by his current attorney, Mark O’Mara, last month.
That website, which was attached to a PayPal account, had been created by Zimmerman without the knowledge of his previous attorneys, Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner, quit the case in April after losing touch with Zimmerman, who had not been arrested after killing Martin February 26th. More than a month of protests and demands for his arrest culminated in charges being filed by special prosecutor Angela Corey, the day after the lawyers resigned the case, April 11th.
Zimmerman reportedly garnered more than $200,000 through his website, and the new legal defense fund set up by his new attorney, Mark O’Mara, had been raising money at a $1,000 a day clip.
But when questioned by Lester during his April 20 bond hearing, Zimmerman and his wife claimed not to know how much money was in the PayPal account.
During Friday’s hearing, it was also revealed that Zimmerman had a second American passport, which he failed to surrender to authorities. He applied for the new passport in 2004 after reporting his original passport lost. The passport Zimmerman surrendered in April expired this May. The one he retained expires in 2014.
O’Mara could request a new bond hearing. If he is not able to make bond, Zimmerman would remain in jail pending trial.
