Little Rock Businessman Terry Fleming’s Jail Sentence Suspended

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Little Rock businessman Terry L. Fleming avoided having to spend a recent weekend in jail as a result of overcrowding.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Timothy Fox said in a July 14 order that Fleming’s time in the Pulaski County Detention Facility for contempt of court was suspended until the jail is below capacity or Fox issues another order.

You may recall that Fox issued an order on July 10 that said Fleming faced three days in jail for contempt of court if his civil lawsuit with a woman who accused him of human trafficking and sexually exploiting her wasn’t settled by July 14.

Well, the case didn’t settle, according to a filing from mediator Richard L. Ramsay. But on the morning of July 14, the jail was holding 1,294 inmates. Its licensed maximum capacity is 1,100, according to Fox’s July 14 order.

“The court is not willing to place the Pulaski County Detention Facility in the position of potentially releasing an individual charged with violent crimes in order to make room to house … Fleming this weekend,” Fox wrote.

In the July 10 order, Fox said that Fleming “is clearly in contempt of this court’s order” of Dec. 6, 2021, and has been for 19 months. In that 2021 order, Fleming was fined $15,000 as a sanction for hiring someone “to drone survey and follow the plaintiff’s” attorney, Fox’s order said. Fleming also was ordered to pay $5,000 in connection with not producing material asked for in a subpoena.

Fleming, the founder of Little Rock’s PerfectVision Manufacturing, one of Arkansas’ largest private companies, also is facing more sanctions that might include striking his answer in a case filed in late 2020 by Corissa Withrow of Pulaski County, Fox wrote in his July 10 order.

If Fox strikes Fleming’s answer, that would result in a default judgment against him and a jury would then decide on the amount of damages Withrow is owed. Fleming has denied the allegations.

Flemings’ attorneys, Timothy Steadman and John Holleman of Holleman & Associates of Little Rock, have filed a notice of appeal of Fox’s July 10 order. Fleming has asked that the appeal be assigned to the Arkansas Supreme Court under the rule that involves a “significant issue needing clarification of the law, specifically the extent of contempt powers of a circuit court.”