Chatham County Superior Court case manager Vevelyn Scarborough on Tuesday left the Chatham County jail on a $10,000 bond with strict conditions on a charge of attempt or conspiracy to violate state drug laws.
Scarborough, 34, was granted bond by Chatham County State Court Judge Gregory V. Sapp, sitting in place of a Superior Court judge, earlier Tuesday.
The judge ruled he could not find evidence that Scarborough was a risk to flee, a threat to others or likely to commit another felony, which would have disqualified her from getting a bond.
Her job at the courthouse did not in the eyes of the law weigh against her, Sapp said, but “in the eyes of the public we are, or certainly should be” held to a higher level of accountability
As conditions of the bond, Scarborough will be banned from the Chatham County Courthouse except for scheduled court appearances and barred from contacting witnesses or defendants in a large-scale drug conspiracy that led to her arrest.
She made bond about 1:30 p.m., said Gena Bilbo, director of public information for the sheriff’s department.
Assistant District Attorney Noah Abrams told Sapp during a morning bond hearing that Scarborough had “abused a position of trust with the court and put lives at risk” by her conduct. He also told Sapp she apparently had plans for a vacation in Aruba and once she left the jurisdiction might not return.
Defense Attorney Greg Crawford urged Sapp to set a “reasonable” bond, arguing “she’s a woman of modest means. I don’t know of any evidence that she profited from knowing (Leonard Anthony) Kennedy.”
He indicated the case involves Scarborough’s alleged efforts at “trying to assist her boyfriend” and questioned whether they would arise to aiding and abetting.
Kennedy, who Crawford identified as Scarborough’s “former boyfriend,” is one of 40 individuals indicted in November in a large-scale drug scheme involving 23 kilos of cocaine.
Crawford said Scarborough does not now, nor has she ever, had a passport, and any reference to Aruba was simply her going online to look at the site.
Prosecutors have not disclosed details of her alleged crime. In November, they obtained indictments against the large group, and 18 of those were subsequently indicted in federal court, Crawford said.
The warrant charges Scarborough, with “attempt or conspiracy to commit drug-related offense” on Jan. 3. It is on a Recorder’s Court form but with the Recorder’s name scratched through and “Superior” printed underneath.
Scarborough, a warrant clerk in the Superior Court administrator’s office, was arrested Friday morning and her office at the courthouse was searched, her computer seized and her home in the 1100 block of East 67th Street searched — all by Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team members on warrants signed by Superior Court Judge Louisa Abbot.
Court Administrator Crystal Taylor Cooper immediately placed her on “investigative suspension without pay.”