Hazelwood Ordered Confined To His Home Until Sentencing In Chattanooga On June 27; Defense Renews Objection To Release Of "Incendiary" Racist Tapes

  • Monday, February 19, 2018

A federal magistrate in Knoxville has ordered former Pilot Travel Centers president Mark Hazelwood confined to his home pending sentencing in Chattanooga on June 27 on three felony convictions.

The confinement at his Knoxville home is to be on a 24-hour basis except for medical needs.

Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton also ordered Hazelwood, who made over $27 million his last year at Pilot and has his own plane, to surrender his passport. 

The ruling says his airplane and boat are to be rendered inoperable at the discretion of the Probation Office or the U.S. Marshals. 

Under the order, he is placed in the custody of his wife Joanne.

Hazelwood was convicted of three felony counts by a jury in Chattanooga after a trial that extended into its fourth month.

The jury found him guilty of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, wire fraud and intimidating a witness.

Hazelwood, Scott Wombold and Heather Jones will be sentenced by Judge Curtis Collier, who conducted the trial that was related to Pilot cheating trucking firms out of promised rebates. Karen Mann was found not guilty.

Meanwhile, attorneys for Ms. Jones renewed their objections to three tape recordings played for the jury during the trial, calling them "incendiary." The recordings were secretly made at a sales meeting at a lake house at Rockwood, Tn. Hazelwood and others make racist remarks on the tapes.

The attorneys said the release of the tapes would further media coverage of the case and taint any future jury pool should the guilty verdicts be overturned.

Various media groups have requested copies of the tapes as well as transcripts given to the jury.

Judge Collier has not yet ruled on the request.

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