Former Charlotte business leader gets three-year sentence for SC probation violation
Tim Newman’s yearslong criminal record in both Carolinas landed him in a Midlands jail last month when a judge revoked his probation for allegedly committing two new offenses and leaving South Carolina.
Newman, 59, was once one of Charlotte’s top business leaders. He was chief executive of the city’s tourism authority, general manager of the Charlotte Knights AAA baseball team when it played in Fort Mill and key in pushing NASCAR to put its Hall of Fame in the Queen City. But he’s been arrested in both Carolinas since 2018, including for threats to destroy a Charleston-area dam in 2020. And he’s accused of new crimes since then that could land him additional jail time if convicted.
South Carolina Circuit Court Judge Robert Hood sentenced Newman to serve three years of an original five-year sentence after a December court hearing in Kershaw County, according to South Carolina probation officials and two sentencing orders obtained by McClatchy. Newman had been on probation for breach of peace convictions.
Probation violation
Arrest warrants alleged Newman failed to comply with probation conditions by leaving South Carolina without permission, being arrested in Lee and York counties, and failing to report to probation officials.
Police arrested Timothy Edward Newman in Lee County, S.C. in October after he allegedly disturbed a school in Bishopville, according to court records and probation arrest warrants. The Lee County Observer reported Newman threatened to assault a security officer and sent the school into lockdown. He was released from jail in Lee County after posting $40,000 bail, court records show.
Later in October, Newman allegedly took off an electronic monitor ordered by the court from his probation while in Fort Mill, then left the state for North Carolina before he was taken into custody in Greensboro, according to arrest warrants and police reports.
Police found the electronic monitor in a trash bin near a travel plaza off Interstate 77 in Fort Mill after the State Law Enforcement Division pinged it, a Fort Mill Police Department incident report showed.
Newman was extradited from North Carolina to York County in early November on charges of removing the electronic monitor and malicious damage to property between $2,000 and $10,000, York County jail and court records show.
Newman remained in custody before being taken to Kershaw County for the probation violation hearing in December, according to probation officials.
South Carolina, North Carolina convictions
Newman was on probation for breach of peace convictions from the Charleston area’s Berkeley County from January 2023, and Georgetown County in September 2022, court documents show. He was arrested in 2020 for threats to damage the Pinopolis dam, according to police and court documents and previous reporting in 2020 by the Charlotte Observer.
In both those cases, Newman later pleaded guilty to breach of peace, aggravated in nature, and was sentenced to concurrent five year prison terms that were suspended to three years probation in each case, court records show.
Newman’s December sentence gives him credit for significant time served from the period from when he was arrested in the breach of peace cases, the orders state.
Newman has been convicted of crimes in both Carolinas, too, court records show.
In 2019, Newman received probation in North Carolina for Mecklenburg County convictions of violation of a protective order and misuse of 911, N.C. Department of Public Safety records show.
Where is Newman now?
After the probation hearing, Newman was sent to the Sumter-Lee Detention Center in Sumter County, S.C., according to S.C. probation agency spokesperson Anita Dantzler and a written statement from Mark Bordeaux, spokesman for the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.
Newman remains in the Sumter-Lee jail, Bordeaux said.
It is unclear if Newman had a lawyer in December during his probation violation hearing.
Charges in Lee County remain pending, online court records show. Those charges are disturbing schools, trespass, larceny, and a traffic violation, according to Lee County online court records.
The Lee County charges do not list a lawyer for Newman.
The York County charges of damage to property and removing an electronic monitor from the Fort Mill incident in October also arepending, according to York County online court court records and Leslie Robinson, spokesperson for the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
The 16th Circuit Public Defender’s office has been assigned to represent Newman for the York County cases.
This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 12:46 PM.
