A man arrested in Florida for alleged human trafficking is the husband of a federal judge and the brother-in-law of Georgia political activist Stacey Abrams, WFLA-TV reports.
Authorities say that around 1:43 a.m. Friday, Jimmie Gardner met a 16-year-old girl and invited her to his Tampa hotel room. Once inside, the 57-year-old is accused of offering the teen money to have sex with him.
“The victim initially agreed but later told Gardner that she no longer wanted to engage and he became angry,” a Tampa Police Department press release states.
“Gardner advised the victim that she needed to leave his hotel room. The two got involved in a verbal altercation that escalated to a physical dispute after Gardner placed his hands around the victim’s neck, impeding her breathing. After the dispute, Gardner left the hotel room, and the victim called 911.”
Gardner had left the hotel when police arrived, but he later went to a police station and was arrested on multiple charges: human trafficking for commercial sexual activity of a victim younger than 18 years old, lewd or lascivious touching of a minor and a misdemeanor count of battery, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
In 1987, Gardner was convicted of sexually assaulting two women but he was subsequently exonerated and released from prison in 2016. He is married to Leslie Abrams Gardner, a former federal prosecutor and current judge on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. Leslie Abrams Gardner is the sister of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor in 2018 and 2022.
Gardner, who grew up in Tampa, presently works as a motivational speaker. His first court appearance was scheduled for Saturday.
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[Feature Photo: Jimmie Gardner/Tampa Police Department]
