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George Zimmerman's Wife To Serve Probation In Plea Deal

George Zimmerman's wife, Shellie Zimmerman, will serve one year of probation as part of a plea deal for committing perjury in lying during a bond hearing for her husband last year.

George Zimmerman's wife, Shellie Zimmerman, will serve one year of probation as part of a plea deal for committing perjury in lying during a bond hearing for her husband last year.
Zimmerman will plead guilty to a lesser form of perjury today in court, as part of a plea deal designed to help her avoid felony conviction. She must also perform 100 hours of community service and write a letter to Circuit Judge Kenneth Lester Jr., who she is accused of lying to.

Zimmerman's perjury charge is a third-degree felony, which carries a possible five-year prison term.

Last year Shellie told the court that she and her husband were broke. But they had received more than $130,000 in donations in just two weeks from people who sent them money through the Internet in support of George Zimmerman's defense case in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

The Orlando Sentinel reports
However, she had no prior criminal record, and Assistant State Attorney John Guy of Jacksonville agreed to allow her to plead guilty to the lesser charge of perjury in an unofficial proceeding. That's a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum of 12 months in jail.

Guy works for Special Prosecutor Angela Corey, the lawyer appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to handle George Zimmerman's criminal case.

Recorded phone calls made by George Zimmerman from the Seminole County Jail show that in the days just before the bond hearing, he and his wife talked about those donations, and he directed her to move money between various credit union accounts and to put some in a safety-deposit box.

Read full story here.
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(Photo: Joe Burbank-Pool/Getty Images)

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