By Gary Lloyd
JEFFERSON COUNTY — The 2013 case of The Basement founder and youth evangelist Matt Pitt allegedly impersonating a peace officer in Grayson Valley is set to go to trial.
The case is set for Monday, April 20 at 9 a.m. in Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Tommy Nail’s courtroom.
The trial date was set in November 2014.
“There is no plan at this time to make any kind of a plea,” Pitt’s lead attorney, Carmella Penn, said in November 2014.
The Basement founder Matt Pitt leaves Shelby County Jail on Palm Sunday 2014.
file photo by Gary Lloyd
Pitt pleaded guilty in Shelby County in 2012 when he was charged with impersonating an officer after Calera police pulled him over for allegedly flashing blue lights on Interstate 65.
Pitt served about eight months in Shelby County Jail for violating probation after he was arrested for impersonating a peace officer for a second time, in June 2013 when he allegedly showed a badge to two men in the woods in Grayson Valley and claimed to be with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.
Pitt was arrested on the charge Aug. 20, 2013, then spent about eight months in Shelby County Jail on the probation revocation from the Shelby County case. He was released on Palm Sunday in 2014. Pitt sat down with The Trussville Tribune for an interview about a month after his release.
“I believe that it will be one of the greatest experiences of my life,” Pitt said in May 2014. “God uses every kind of thing in my life. He uses trouble, He uses trials. Any time I’ve been knocked down, He uses the pit as my greatest story. He’s always used the craziness of my life to reach so many more people.”
Penn said in November 2014 that Pitt had gone back to work with his ministry and just wanted the legal ordeal done.
“Let’s try to get it over with,” Penn said.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
