George Zimmerman's wife arrested, charged with perjury

Seminole County jail mugshots of George Zimmerman
and his wife, Shellie Zimmerman. (Seminole County
jail, Seminole County jail / June 12, 2012)

By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel

10:01 p.m. EDT, June 12, 2012

At her husband's bond hearing, Shellie Zimmerman was asked repeatedly about money. Among the questions: How much did the couple collect in donations through George Zimmerman's website?
"Currently, I do not know," Shellie Zimmerman replied. She and other family members described their financial situation as dire. Judge Kenneth Lester granted George Zimmerman $150,000 bond on the second-degree-murder charge he faces in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

But prosecutors say Shellie Zimmerman spent the days before that April hearing shifting tens of thousands of dollars out of her husband's account, then deliberately lied to the judge.

On Tuesday, she was arrested on a perjury charge and booked into John E. Polk Correctional Facility. It's the same jail her husband has called home since the deception was revealed earlier this month, leading the judge to revoke his bond.

"The prosecutor sent a strong message that you have to tell the truth in court because it is the whole basis of the American judicial system," said Benjamin Crump, an attorney for Trayvon's family, after learning of the new arrest.

In an affidavit, prosecutors revealed new details about Shellie Zimmerman's alleged efforts to hide money from the court.  READ MORE