’I am sending you to jail.’ Scott Walker angers judge in parents’ guardianship hearing
Ocean Springs businessman Scott Walker is going to jail for 30 days, a Chancery Court judge ordered Tuesday during a guardianship hearing involving Walker’s parents, Bill and Sharon Walker.
Judge Neil Harris grew weary of what he called Scott Walker’s “rants” while he was on the witness stand. Later in the hearing, Walker got in even more trouble, prompting a criminal contempt citation.
Walker took the witness stand to request $95,000 in business and $1,700 in personal reimbursements from his elderly parents, now Harris’ wards. The personal expenses, from November through January, included meals he ate with them at McElroy’s and Anthony’s Steak and Seafood in Ocean Springs because they are unable to drive.
A federal judge ordered Bill Walker placed under court-ordered guardianship after finding that Scott Walker had been mismanaging his parents’ money. Father and son were convicted in 2014 of defrauding the federal government while Bill Walker worked as executive director of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources.
Bill Walker must repay a total of $572,689 in restitution. He stopped making the payments on Scott Walker’s watch. Harris is trying to keep payments on track while assuring that the Walkers, who receive around $250,000 a year in retirement income but are deeply in debt, have enough money to live on and pay their bills.
Their income now goes in a trust managed by two court-appointed guardians. Harris is supposed to approve any expenses in advance.
Scott Walker testifies
On the witness stand, Scott Walker said he now understands how the guardianship works but did not when he spent the money that he now wants reimbursed.
He said that his parents deserve some happiness and like to get out of the house.
“They wanted to do more,” he testified, “but that’s basically all I could afford.”
While he was on the witness stand, Scott Walker interrupted the judge, who admonished him more than once and threatened him with a contempt citation.
But Walker kept launching into explanations rather than first answering with a “yes” or “no” as the judge had instructed. Harris finally ordered Walker put in a holding cell.
Then, the judge decided instead to send Walker and Bill Walker’s guardians into an empty courtroom for an off-the-record discussion. Harris left the bench.
As Scott Walker exited the courtroom behind the attorneys, he said, “Why don’t you pay the (expletive) receipts, Mr. Pavlov,” referring to attorney Matthew Pavolv, one of Bill Walker’s court-appointed guardians.
By the time court resumed, Walker’s comment had been reported to Harris.
Harris promptly found Walker in criminal contempt of court and sentenced him to 30 days in jail, plus a $100 fine. Harris said he will send Walker to jail as long as Sheriff Mike Ezell allows it, apparently referring to COVID-19 rules at the Jackson County jail. Ezell’s office later told the Sun Herald that if the judge ordered Walker to jail, he will be jailed.
“You say another word, I’m going to lock you up right this second, you understand,” Harris told Walker when he attempted to speak again. “You say anymore cuss words or take God’s name in vain in this courtroom, I will lock you up as long as I can. It’s not right, it’s not kind and it’s disrespectful to these members of the bar.”
Walker failed to pay taxes on shopping center
Harris then considered another motion from Walker, which was 200 pages with attachments, for reimbursement of $95,283.80 he spent on a small strip shopping center that he owns with his mother through an LLC. Walker said that he managed the shopping center and paid the bills, although he had only a 15% share of the LLC.
The reimbursement he requested included around $44,000 his mother gifted him for a down payment on the building, which Harris ordered put up for sale. Walker wants the reimbursement from sale proceeds, but Harris turned him down.
Scott Walker collected rent from commercial tenants in the building without paying 2019 taxes, Harris noted. He said that Walker had violated his fiduciary duty to both the LLC and his mother and was not owed reimbursement.
The co-guardians, Pavlov and Chancery Clerk Josh Eldridge, had to catch up on 2019 taxes and pay 2020 taxes on the building.
Harris said he will consider reimbursing Scott Walker’s personal expenses but wants more backup documentation.
The judge said that he will also approve a $300 expense Scott Walker requested in advance so that his father can get new tennis shoes and buy one of his three grandsons a bicycle for his seventh birthday. Bill Walker sat silently in the courtroom for the hearing but his wife did not attend.
Harris noted that the Walkers are $99,000 in debt, in addition to the restitution Bill Walker owes.
“And Dr. and Dr. Walker did not get there by themselves,” Harris said, referring to the elder Walkers, who both hold doctorates. “They had help.”
Harris told Walker to report to the courthouse at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Walker apologized to the judge for using profanity, saying Harris was not in the courtroom at the time. He said that he needs to take care of his sons, who are out of school this week, while his wife works. And, he said, he is taking care of his parents.
Harris had the last word during the hearing. He said, “I am sending you to jail.”
After Walker left the hearing, he told the Sun Herald, “His ruling didn’t surprise me. He has wanted to do this since November,” when the guardianship began. Walker added: “He’s threatened me with jail time every time we’ve been to court, when I’m trying to advocate for my parents.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 2:13 PM.
