The daughter of country music superstar Wynonna Judd pleaded guilty in Albemarle County court Thursday to three misdemeanor crimes after stealing a Charlottesville, Virginia, church’s van with drugs in her system.
“The church was primarily interested in her treatment and recovery, and that’s why the commonwealth agreed to the deal,” said Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Tyler Sande as he presented the arrangement in court.
Grace Pauline Kelley, 28, was arrested on Oct. 27 after the pastor of Charlottesville’s Ground Zero Church of the Nazarene saw his church’s van and attached trailer leaving his driveway with Kelley behind the wheel. He pursued her down the road before the police were able to apprehend her.
Initially charged with seven crimes, including three felonies and testing positive for heroin, Kelley has been held without bail at Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail since her arrest.
She allegedly exclaimed during the booking process that she had “sold her soul to the devil,” according to her court file.
Kelley belongs to Hollywood and Nashville royalty. Her mother’s solo career has garnered her enough fame that she often goes simply by her first name Wynonna. Judd has sold more than 20 million records, won five Grammy Awards and been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Kelley’s grandmother, Naomi Judd, once part of a mother-daughter act known as the Judds, is a country legend herself. And Kelley’s aunt, Ashley Judd, is a movie star known for the films “Kiss the Girls,” “Double Jeopardy” and “Divine Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood.”
Kelley, meanwhile, has led a less glamorous life.
A former stepfather, Dan Robert Roach, was arrested in 2007 and charged with molesting a child under the age of 13. He later pleaded guilty to criminal attempt to commit aggravated sexual assault, according to the Tennessee sex offender registry. Kelley’s child, a 2-year-old daughter born between jail stints, is reportedly in the care of Wynonna Judd. And the family’s matriarch, Naomi Judd, died by suicide in 2022 on the eve of her induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame after struggling with anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder.
Kelley has a history of substance abuse and has been arrested twice in two other states just in the past year.
In August, Kelley was arrested in Georgia for various offenses including evading police and driving without a license. In April, Alabama authorities charged her with prostitution and indecent exposure after she reportedly stood naked on the side of the road holding a sign that read, “A ride for a ride.”
Kelley gave published interviews asserting that the Alabama allegations were overstated, claiming she was not even partially nude at the time. Her charges were later reduced by a plea to public lewdness and obstructing government operations.
Kelley has not yet made any statement about her Virginia charges. However, church pastor Kent Hart previously told The Daily Progress that “she didn’t seem like she was in her right mind at all” at the time of her arrest. He said the congregation was praying for her recovery.
In Albemarle County General District Court during a busy Thursday morning docket, Kelley appeared placid. Dressed in a gray jumpsuit and orange Croc-style shoes issued by the local jailhouse, she calmly answered the judge’s questions, even as the specter of reinstatement of suspended time from other states hung over her.
Kelley’s father, businessman Arch Brown Kelley III, has been in touch with the commonwealth’s attorney’s office, according to Sande.
The three charges to which Kelley pleaded guilty are driving while drugged, possession of drug paraphernalia and petty larceny. Her pleas resolve seven pending charges and prevent both an upgrade to one of them and the lodging of an eighth, which, the prosecutor told the court, would have been a felony drug possession charge.
Her Albemarle County jail sentence is three months of active time and 16 months suspended on the condition she pays the church $500 to cover its insurance deductible, stays out of legal trouble and adheres to the terms of her probation.
“I do have a question about my probation,” said Kelley, asking about her duty to report to VASAP, the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, a standard part of drunk and drugged driving convictions.
“Ask your question to your lawyer,” replied Judge Matthew Quatrara, “because I’m the referee and not the coach.”
Kelley then huddled with Alexandra Heilbronner of the Office of the Public Defender, who asked the judge if he would advise the jail to issue good time credit.
“Yes,” said Quatrara. “No different from any other detainee.”
Heilbronner also expressed a concern about some pending out-of-state charges and noted that Tennessee has issued the equivalent of an arrest warrant, even though there appears to be no threat of extradition. The prosecutor confirmed that understanding.
“They’d come get her if she was in another Tennessee jail,” said Sande. “And the same thing out of Georgia.”
“It’s information for Ms. Kelley, and it’s useful for her to know,” said the judge. “But I don’t have the authority to do anything.”
“Good luck to you, OK,” the judge told Kelley as bailiffs led her back to the jail.