Cobb inmate pleads guilty to causing Ebola scare
COBB COUNTY, Ga. -- A Cobb County Jail inmate pleaded guilty this week to causing an Ebola scare after being pulled over for driving drunk.
In addition to misdemeanor charges of DUI and failure to maintain lane, 35-year-old Harry Randall Withers Jr. was convicted of three felony counts of making false statements.
Withers, of Suffolk, Va., was arrested Oct. 3. Upon arriving at the Cobb County Jail, he told a paramedic he had recently traveled to Nigeria and Kenya, and was experiencing symptoms of Ebola. He was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where the emergency room staff enacted containment precautions.
Cell phone records later showed Withers was in the U.S. when he claimed he was in Africa. The defendant had not left the country since 2005 and did not even have an active U.S. passport.