With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale
(APN) ATLANTA — In 2012, CBS Atlanta’s “exclusive investigation” found that Linda Pritchett, then a candidate for the Democratic nomination for State House District 63 had a troubling criminal history.
CBS apparently had invested significant resources to uncover the information for the news report, which was once published at the following link:
Today, Pritchett is in a Primary Run-off with candidate Debra Bazemore for the same seat, which includes parts of Fulton and Fayette Counties, HD 63, to be held on July 26, 2016.
Someone appears to have convinced CBS to take down the content from their website, as their research has been replaced with their apologies.
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However, never fear: Atlanta Progressive News saved the text of the now-deleted article in its archives; and, after being contacted by candidate Pritchett to tell her side of the story, APN dedicated its own resources to obtain court records verifying her criminal past.
Also, the video of the original CBS report is still available on Youtube, on Jeff Chirico’s page.
Neither Chirico nor CBS returned any of the numerous requests by Atlanta Progressive News for comment or more information.
Pritchett contacted APN on June 06, 2016, requesting an APN Questionnaire and requesting an opportunity to respond to APN’s reporting regarding her criminal history, as CBS had at the time reported [and not yet retracted].
APN sent Pritchett the questionnaire, to which she responded, “Thank you Matthew I will have it back to you by the end of this week.”
Over one month later, the questionnaire has not been received.
Then, after APN discovered that the CBS story had been taken down, we undertook the lengthy process of obtaining court records from multiple jurisdictions, including locally and out-of-state.
After personally demanding the opportunity to respond, when presented with such, Linda Pritchett has not responded to an emailed request from APN.
GRAND LARCENY / STEALING MERCHANDISE FROM TARGET IN VIRGINIA IN 2000
On March 6, 2000, a grand jury in the Circuit Court of the City of Alexandria Virginia indicted Linda Becquer (Pritchett) of grand larceny for stealing over two hundred dollars worth of merchandise from Target, according to records obtained by APN.
On April 6, 2000, Pritchett pled guilty to the felony charges.
On June 1, 2000, the circuit court judge decided that it was in the best interest of the public to vacate the felony charge and suspend the sentence conditional to two years of supervised probation.
On June 27, 2002, the court found Pritchett in compliance with the terms of the ordered probation and dropped all charges.
When questioned about this and several other adjudicated criminal episodes by CBS in 2012, Pritchett abruptly ended the interview.
FIVE MISDEMEANORS, INCLUDING MANUFACTURING LICENSE PLATES AND DECALS, IN FULTON COUNTY IN 2009
On October 29, 2009, the solicitor general for Fulton County filed five misdemeanor charges against Linda Pritchett, according to records obtained by APN.
Pritchett was charged with unlawful manufacture of license plates and decals, concealing identity of a vehicle, operating an unregistered vehicle, no insurance, and a handicap parking violation.
On July 7, 2010, Pritchett entered a plea of no contest for all charges, was fined and sentenced to fifty hours of community service.
Pritchett had a fake paper “decal” taped on her license plate covering an expired sticker, records show.
ADDITIONAL CRIMINAL EPISODES
“That was the second time Pritchett was convicted of tampering with license plates,” CBS reported in 2012.
“In June of 2004, Pritchett pleaded guilty to altering or forging license plates, while she lived in Virginia,” CBS reported at the time.
“A court records search uncovered two other convictions on Pritchett’s record for driving without an operator’s license in 1999 and an expired registration in 2003,” CBS reported at the time.
“Pritchett was also arrested in 2006 and charged with attempt to commit credit card fraud and attempt to commit identity fraud. The charges were dropped and she pleaded guilty to two lesser charges of petit larceny in Fairfax County General District Court,” CBS reported at the time.
(END/2016)