By Erin Smith
Detention hearings were held for a former Elizabethtown doctor and his girlfriend this week at the federal courthouse in Wilmington.
Dr. Jong Whan Kim appeared before US Magistrate Judge Robert Jones Jr. on Thursday who allowed Dr. Kim to be released from the custody of US Marshals. Dr. Kim was ordered to remain in the custody of his sister, Michelle Kim of Wisconsin, pending his next court date.
Tammy Lynn Thompson, Dr. Kim’s girlfriend, waived her detention hearing on Monday. Thompson, who is represented by Attorney James Stockton Perry of the law firm Perry, Perry & Perry of Kinston, was ordered to remain in the custody of the US Marshals Service pending trial by US Magistrate Judge Jones.
Assistant US Attorney Timothy Servo argued against the release of Dr. Kim.
Dr. Kim, who is represented by Attorneys James Polk and Raymond C. Tarlton of the law firm Tarlton Polk, PLLC of Raleigh, is ordered not to prescribe any medication and to surrender his medical license. He must report to a US Probation Office periodically, cooperate with DNA collection, he must advise the court in writing before he can make any changes in his residence or telephone number, surrender his passport. Dr. Kim is also ordered to have no contact with his co-defendant and former girlfriend, Tammy Lynn Thompson.
US Magistrate Judge Jones ordered Dr. Kim to remain on house arrest until his next court appearance.
An arraignment hearing is set for Dr. Kim and Thompson on March 12, 2019, at the federal courthouse in New Bern.
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