An Ohio restaurateur who pleaded guilty to felony attempted strangulation of a woman was sentenced to five years of probation on November 3.
Robert "Bobby" George, who owns several restaurants in Columbus, pleaded guilty to the fifth-degree felony charge after initially being charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, and rape, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
The original charges were related to incidents that happened between November 2023 and June 2024. The charge that George ultimately pleaded guilty to involved a June 2024 incident, WKYC-3 reported. The station reported that the probationary sentence was a recommendation that the 25-year-old victim in the case had agreed to.
"If there had not been a joint recommendation of probation that the victim agreed on, I may have sent you to prison," Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Joy Kennedy told George, according to the station. "Do you understand that?"
"I do," George responded.
When asked by WKYC-3 whether the conviction and sentence was enough, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Jane Hanlin said, "I believe that he is a man who abuses women, and I believe that it took this young girl to make him accountable and to hold him responsible for what he did. She gave up 14 months of her life to work with the police, to work with the state, on this matter to make sure that everybody knows who he is."
George issued a statement to WKYC-3 following the sentencing in which he said the charges were politically motivated: "The allegations made against me 14 months ago were proven false when my lawyers showed the special prosecutor hundreds of pages of evidence showing my innocence, which led to the dismissal of nearly every charge. Today, this politically motivated prosecution ends. But my relentless pursuit of justice against those who weaponized the legal system against me is just beginning."
The statement concluded with a reference to President Trump's past legal issues: "President Trump was targeted by his political enemies who had prosecutorial power, and so was I. He was vindicated, and I will be, too. Today, this politically motivated prosecution ends. But my relentless pursuit of justice against the people who unjustly weaponized the legal system against me is just beginning."
