Indicted FIFA official Jeffrey Webb is subject to home detention as he waits for his day in court, but, thanks to a recent ruling, he can ride things out in the comfort of his Rockdale County mansion.
A federal judge in New York last month gave Webb the OK to return to Georgia while the corruption case against him moves forward. The order went into effect Sept 1.
Webb has pleaded not guilty to 17 felony charges as part of the sweeping bribery and kickback case that includes 14 defendants and has put the governing body of worldwide soccer under a microscope.
Credit: Danny Robbins
Credit: Danny Robbins
After his arrest in Zurich in May, Webb was extradited to the U.S. He then gained his release from custody by posting a $10 million bond. The bond is secured by much of Webb and his wife's personal property, including Kendra Gamble-Webb’s diamond wedding ring, a diamond bracelet, a diamond and pearl necklace, 11 high-end watches (four of them Rolexes) and three vehicles (one a Ferrari).
Kendra Gamble-Webb is an obstetrician who graduated from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2002 and has been licensed to practice medicine in Georgia since 2006, according to her public profile on the Georgia Composite Medical Board’s website.
Credit: Danny Robbins
Credit: Danny Robbins
She and Webb, a citizen of the Cayman Islands, met in Miami and were married in Atlanta. Their August 2013 wedding, which included an elaborate reception at the St. Regis Hotel, was featured on weddingstylemagazine.com. Gamble-Webb told the website that she and her husband selected the St. Regis because they often visited the hotel to use its spa or enjoy "romantic weekend getaways inside the city."
Webb's bond originally required that he be subject to electronic monitoring as well as 24-hour surveillance by a private security service while residing within 20 miles of the federal court house in Brooklyn.
The monitoring and surveillance remain, but the residency requirement was modified by U.S. District Judge Raymond J. Dearie on Aug. 28.
Webb's attorney, Edward C. O'Callaghan, wrote that his client was facing an escalating financial burden from the cost of maintaining a separate residence in New York and paying for his family to visit him there.
“Mr. and Mrs. Webb also hope that, with Mr. Webb residing in their Georgia home, he will be able to care for their 1-year-old son on a daily basis, which will allow Mrs. Webb to significantly enhance her ongoing job search as a practicing physician,” the lawyer wrote.
Prosecutors did not object to the arrangement.
Of course, the Loganville home may not belong to Webb too much longer. According to court records, it's among the property the government will seek for forfeiture if he is convicted.
