Amy and State Rep. Trey Kelley both take the stand to discuss financial matters, relationships during and after divorce began

Kelley also refuses to answer question about strip club ATM withdrawal in Atlanta

A two-day hearing wrapped up this afternoon over the movement of joint money by State Rep. Trey Kelley during divorce proceedings back in August that totaled up to more than $200,000, and a decision will be forthcoming on the status of the funds in November.

Judge S. Lark Ingram was assigned to hear the case out of the Cobb County Judicial Circuit after it was requested to bring in an outside judge by State Rep. Kelley’s attorneys in previous months over bias issues.

She heard both sides argue about finances during a five-hour hearing today to follow-up on a hearing held on Monday over a question of who might be in contempt over spending, and the moving of money by State Rep. Kelley into a personal account from a joint account held by the estranged couple.

Tuesday’s hearing also saw State Rep. Kelley take the stand and refusing to answer any questions about whether he was involved in past extramarital affairs while he’s been in office, and his spending at an Atlanta gentleman’s club called the Tattletale Lounge.

The second day of the hearing began with Amy Kelley on the stand finishing up her testimony from Monday. She explained during the second day of testimony how the pair had agreed after getting married shortly after graduating from Shorter College they would have a plan for the rest of their life. Go to work, start a family, watch their sons and daughters go on to achieve great things.

Instead, that plan was sidelined as State Rep. Kelley decided first he wanted to go to law school, then after being heavily recruited on the local and state level to run for the State House. Their plans were further derailed for a time after she claimed he had an extramarital affair, the two went to marriage counseling and the promise of complete devotion brought them back around to their original plans to have children.

Their discussions had gotten as far as picking out names and agreeing to honor their grandmothers by naming a daughter after one on each side.

Amy testified she went to the doctor to go through with testing to make sure they were able to conceive in the Winter of 2020, and that Trey agreed with the plan but ultimately canceled his appointment to go to the doctor.

“He was more concerned about getting another woman pregnant,” she told the court.

Her attorney also addressed footage from a Ring doorbell camera brought up by State Rep. Kelley’s attorneys during her examination on Monday.

She also testified that State Rep. Kelley had threatened her and “that he wanted to kill me” prior to her filing paperwork to divorce her husband.

“He called me and told me he had people watching me, and that ‘I made him do that,’” she testified in court.

Once she was done, it was State Rep. Kelley’s turn to take the stand. He went through the history of their relationship, their agreement that he would be the main breadwinner after he began his political career and got his law license, and that he believed that not just his marriage, but relationships in the community suffered after he was indicted but later saw the charges dropped over involvement in the Sept. 11, 2019 death of Eric Keais in a hit-and-run.

Ryan Dover, charged for hit-and-run in Keais’ death that night, still has yet to face trial.

State Rep. Kelley said the coverage of that event had a negative impact on his business and political career, and that it was a politically-motivated witch hunt fueled by “very unethical and irresponsible media coverage.” He testified his law practice has suffered since it has been difficult to get new clients. He gave up his leadership role as Majority Whip in the State House last year.

He refused to answer questions raised about the past extramarital affairs, or any relationship he had with Holli Gibbs Pitcock, who used to work at the State House of Representatives.

State Rep. Kelley “respectfully declined to answer” questions about whether he had a relationship with her, or anyone else prior to the time that Amy and he separated. He cited this under rights in OCGA 24-5-505.

He was more open about his relationship with Savannah Coe, who he said has moved from Mississippi and is living with him here in Cedartown. He told the court he is helping to financially support her at this time while she enrolls in a nursing school closer to their new shared home and finds employment.

State Rep. Kelley also told the court that his parents are paying for the utilities at their residence, and that “if they ask” he will pay them back for the expense.

The real crux of the hearing was over finances shared between the two and a joint account from Regions Bank and Coosa Valley Credit Union where they had a combined $200,849 remaining as of August. The majority of that money came from a settlement payment State Rep. Kelley received from a case he represented at the law firm where he is employed, Parker and Lundy in Cedartown.

The original settlement amount was around $550,000 and was received in 2019. During the past three years, State Rep. Kelley said through a combination of investments into mutual funds and real estate, plus expenses currently being paid to cover the cost of the note and other loan payments for equipment and his truck and other expenses between the two (including a $92,000 check written by Amy Kelley to purchase a Lexus SUV) that the funds have now dwindled down to slightly above $165,000 by the end of September, once State Rep. Kelley had complete control of those funds.

The money also was spent on $137,500 investment made for a half-stake in a Floyd County real estate corporation with James Williamson for 11 properties they rent out in the area, including a duplex that requires renovations.

It was as of the hearing today down to $134,000, give or take. He also setup a separate American Express card that he began to use after they were separated which he testified he had a $9,500 balance in September.

In questioning offered by Amy Kelley’s attorney, the State Representative agreed that at one point, the couple had somewhere around $1 million at one point in time. By 2021, $600,000 remained between the two accounts.

“I would say that we lived an upper middle class lifestyle,” he testified. “We weren’t burning money at this rate.”

State Rep. Kelley testified that when he withdrew the remaining money in August, his intention was to ensure that “some was left by the time this is over with” and in a formal letter responding to the claims that he wasn’t allowed to withdraw the funds while divorce proceedings were still ongoing, that he would pay for any credit cards or bills sent his way without argument.

He told the court while being questioned by his attorney that when he found out spending he found suspect in the form of a Venmo payment to a friend of Amy’s as a personal loan, he decided to take control of the money. The timing was suspect, since the same day on August 9 that the funds were moved was also the same day that Pitcock was served with a subpoena to testify in a deposition on the case. However State Rep. Kelley testified that one had nothing to do with the other.

State Rep. Kelley did admit that prior to taking this step, he hadn’t openly discussed any spending with Amy Kelley, and that they hadn’t spoken much at all since their separation.

So where does half a million go?

A lot of the money was spent on the farm property, on buying equipment, a truck he subsequently bought and traded in for a Tahoe (State Rep. Kelley did note how expensive diesel vehicles are to work on) and for cost of living, like food, utilities, and the like. But not all of it was spent by State Rep. Kelley (at least in the evidence presented to the court) on items meant to maintain their households.

What State Rep. Kelley refused to answer for or couldn’t remember spending this hard-earned money on from the joint accounts included items like $869.52 at the KR Steak Bar in Buckhead where he couldn’t remember who he had an expensive dinner with that night. Or another $800 tab he paid for at Sotto Sotto in Atlanta, an upscale Italian eatery. Or $606 on a flight that he initially couldn’t tell the court where he went when questioned, but was refreshed in his memory enough to refuse to answer under the OCGA 24-5-505 when pressed whether the flight included Pitcock and a trip to Philadelphia to watch a baseball game on May 31.

State Rep. Kelley said he had no memory at all of slightly more than $400 spent at Best Buy in January.

He especially refused to answer whether he withdrew $800 cash from an ATM located at the Tattletale Lounge, an adult entertainment club on Piedmont Road in Atlanta near the Piedmont Heights neighborhood. He cited the 24-5-505 rule that allows him to refuse to answer.

He was able to explain hundreds of dollars of spending at pro shops spent on the joint account to several golf clubs around the southeast taking part in fundraisers. He claimed to have spent the money on shirts and golf balls.

A $200 charge for custom shoes made by an individual in Arkansas in March was also explained when brought up as well. He wore the shoes to court.

Also, Kelley spent thousands on season tickets on University of Georgia football games. He also noted that his $1,100 mattress purchase from Rudy Wood Appliance in Cedartown was still much less than what Amy spent on a new mattress on the account previously, noting that “I could have gotten three mattresses for what she paid for one.”

After Amy Kelley took the stand again to defend the accounting made for spending by the plaintiffs, both attorneys rested their cases for the day.

Both agreed they would provide written closing statements in the form of orders they want Judge Ingram to sign over the current issue.

She set aside a trial calendar date starting on December 6, and is allowing four days for testimony and further exhibits to be introduced in the divorce proceedings.

Those proceedings began in the spring of 2021 when Amy Kelley filed for divorce.