Q: I read about the three Cherokee County court reporters who pleaded guilty to racketeering for expanding the spacing in court transcripts in order to boost the number of transcribed pages, thus billing the county for extra pages. How much money did these women collect and over what period of time?
—Jean Snyder, Gainesville
A: Authorities said Betty Petersen, Kimberly Probst and Tammy Stine, who each pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering, combined to steal more than $485,000, beginning in 2006. They initially were charged last September with theft by taking, theft by deception, giving false statements and racketeering.
Authorities said Probst stole $59,821, Petersen stole $79,229 and Stine stole $346,676 from the county. Probst was sentenced to four months in jail, Petersen received six months and Stine was sentenced to eight months. They also received probation, were fined and ordered to pay restitution.
Q: What became of the children of O.J. Simpson? How old are they? Where are they living? What are they doing with their lives?
—Floyd Williams, Lavonia
A: Little has been reported about Simpson's two children with Nicole Brown Simpson. Sydney Simpson and Justin Simpson are seldom photographed in public, although both were seen attending the funeral of their grandfather Louis Brown Jr. – Nicole Brown Simpson's dad – who died last June in California.
Sydney Simpson, 29, reportedly was living in Atlanta, and Justin, 26, was living in the Miami area, in 2014, 20 years after their mother was killed. Simpson was acquitted of murder charges in the slaying of Nicole Brown Simpson in 1995. He had three children with first wife, Marguerite L. Whitley.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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