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Rep. Stephenson admitted buying stolen Porsche

State Rep. Pam Stephenson pleaded guilty in 1984 to theft by receiving for buying a stolen Porsche, courthouse records show.

Stephenson served nearly three years on probation, paid a $2,050 fine and performed 150 hours of community service. She was sentenced as a first offender, which allowed Supreme Court Justice Carol W. Hunstein, then a DeKalb Superior Court judge, to wipe the crime from her record in 1986.

That action restored Stephenson’s civil rights, which cleared the way for her to run for the state Legislature and seek admission to the State Bar, which bars most unpardoned felons from practicing law here.

Records show Stephenson took the plea on the condition that charges against her then-husband would be dropped. He had a prior conviction that would work against him in court, she said.

“The attorney said, ‘You can fight it. You would win, he would lose, and he would go prison,’ ” she told AtlantaUnfiltered.

Stephenson told police (Page 1, Page 2, Page 3) she and her husband bought the 1981 gold turbo Porsche 924 after meeting a man who said he could get her a cheap BMW or Porsche. The next day, they paid the man $2,900 for the car with a promise to pay another $2,400 later.

The couple drove the car to Detroit that weekend for her brother’s wedding, using a license plate from a 1980 Porsche they already owned. When they could not contact the seller upon their return home, they said they realized the car was probably stolen.

A week after buying the car, Stephenson’s husband asked someone to remove the gear box, install it in the other Porsche and keep other parts for his own use. He told the man that he had been given the car but it could not be titled.

In a statement to the GBI at the time, the Stephensons said they did not contact police because they were scared of getting in trouble.

Stephenson said she was told the case file had been sealed because of the first offender plea. Still, she said, she talks about the incident as a warning to youths whom she mentors.

“I’m not ashamed that I made a mistake,” she said. “If you can’t admit your mistakes, how can you move on?”