Peggy L. Maxwell, wearing green jail garb, shares defense table with attorney Rachael Tiller in Lewis County Superior Court.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A woman wanted on a $20,000 arrest warrant for a first-degree theft case filed years ago by former Lewis County Prosecutor Jeremy Randolph recently came to the attention of local law enforcement and was extradited from the east coast to go before a judge here yesterday.
Peggy L. Maxwell, now 58, was booked into the Lewis County Jail on Friday and was seen in Lewis County Superior Court yesterday afternoon.
Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher asked that she be held on $20,000 bail. Temporary defense attorney Rachael Tiller requested a lesser amount, noting Maxwell has family in Boistfort and a good friend in the area she can stay with.
Judge James Lawler agreed with Meagher.
The criminal case was filed in May 2001, based on the findings from a January 2000 civil trial in Lewis County in which the court found for the plaintiffs.
The complaint in that case stated the plaintiffs, a non-profit organization in Lewis County called the Civil Rights Defense League, in May of 1998 made a loan of $10,000 to Maxwell and her husband, and the note was in default.
The affidavit regarding probable cause drawn up by Randolph in May 2001 alleges the Defense League issued Maxwell a $10,000 check three years earlier which she said she would use to pay a retainer fee to secure legal services from a lawyer named Leslie Abramson.
Randolph wrote that Maxwell deposited the funds into her account and none of it was received by Abramson. He charged Maxwell with one count of first-degree theft.
Randolph was the elected prosecutor, for the second time, for eight years ending at the end of 2006.
Outside the courtroom, Meagher said Maxwell worked for the now defunct organization. Authorities were able to track down one person who is among the victims, he said.
“There’s a lot of backstory here,” Meagher said.
The criminal charge is separate from the civil case, he said.
A now-retired detective with the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office conducted the criminal investigation for Randolph’s case. Meagher said he has no idea where the husband is, that he’s not involved in this new case.
Documents, only some of which were available, from the civil case, indicate the defendants didn’t show up for the non-jury trial. And the exhibits from the case were destroyed in 2008.
Meagher said his office got lucky and found Maxwell, because she was in jail on the east coast, and her warrant came up.
Tiller requested and got a court-appointed lawyer for Maxwell, saying she has had no income since May of this year, because of incarceration.
Maxwell’s arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
I was going to ask about statute of limitations but then I realized that because a warrant was issued in 2001 then the limitation doesn’t apply. It is only when no charges filed or case started against someone for a length of time that the limitation applies.