An Oro Valley man involved in a legal battle with former Wildcats player and assistant coach Josh Pastner will likely be extradited to Georgia on a probation violation from 17 years ago.
Ron Bell, 51, was arrested Wednesday on a fugitive warrant out of Georgia. He’s been held without bond in the Pima County jail since his arrest.
On Tuesday, Pima County Superior Court Judge Lee Ann Roads denied Bell’s request for a $5,000 bond, saying that civil law does not allow her to offer bail on probation or parole violations.
Bell’s attorney, Paul Gattone, said his client — who was brought into court in a wheelchair — has “serious health concerns” that weren’t being addressed in jail.
The probation violation resulted from the fact that Bell’s paperwork to transfer his probation from Georgia to Arizona in 2001 was never filed with the Cobb County court in Georgia, Gattone said in court.
Someone reviewing the case notified court personnel, and the warrant was issued, Gattone said, adding that he’s been communicating with a Georgia attorney that Bell has retained.
Gattone asked Roads for a continuance on the extradition hearing to determine if the charge would actually be a probation violation.
“We think this is very much connected to the other case,” Gattone told the Star after the hearing, referencing the defamation case that Pastner levied against Bell and his fiancée, Jennifer Pendley, in January. Bell and Pendley filed a counterclaim in response, saying that Pastner sexually assaulted Pendley in 2016.
“Someone is digging up dirt,” Gattone added. “I would hope that the other side wouldn’t have had anything to do with (Bell’s arrest), but it’s an awfully big coincidence.”
In January, a Phoenix private investigator filed a request with Cobb County Superior Court in Georgia for indictments, plea-agreements, pre-sentencing reports and disposition documents for Bell’s four cases, which occurred between 1997 and 2000, according to Cobb County court records.
On March 13, Oro Valley police received a call from an investigator with the Cobb County Sheriff’s Department who asked that OVPD arrest Bell on a probation warrant, according to the Oro Valley police report into Bell’s arrest.
Scott Tompsett, one of Pastner’s two attorneys, wouldn’t say whether his firm hired the private investigator and declined to comment on the record.
Bell has another extradition review hearing set for March 27.
