An Oro Valley man locked in a legal battle with former Arizona Wildcats player and assistant coach Josh Pastner will be extradited to Georgia to face a probation violation charge stemming from 2001.
Ron Bell appeared in Pima County Superior Court Tuesday and waived his extradition rights, agreeing to return voluntarily to face charges in Georgia without the state having to file a governorβs warrant to bring him back.
βWeβre ready to move on with Mr. Bellβs transfer to Georgia,β Bellβs attorney, Paul Gattone, told Judge LeAnn Roads after Bell signed his waiver.
Roads told Bell that Georgia authorities would likely arrive in Tucson to pick him up within a week to 10 days. It's unclear why Bell was on probation.Β
Bell can be held for up to 90 days in jail without bond after waiving his extradition rights, Roads said.
Bell was arrested by Oro Valley police March 14, after the department received a call from Georgia authorities asking them to arrest Bell on the probation warrant, according to police reports.
The violation came about after Bellβs 2001 transfer paperwork was never filed with the Cobb County Superior Court in Georgia, Gattone previously said.
In January, a Phoenix private investigator requested Cobb County court records on Bell, according to online filings.
Gattone previously indicated that Bellβs arrest on such an old violation is likely connected to the defamation case Pastner filed against Bell and his fiancΓ©e, Jennifer Pendley, in January. Bell and Pendley filed a counterclaim against Pastner, accusing him of sexually assaulting Pendley in 2016.
Gattone, who is also representing Bell and Pendley in the civil suit, said Bell has retained an attorney in Georgia to deal with the probation violation charge.
