Prominent Jupiter agent Rob Thomson agreed to five years of probation stemming from domestic battery charges filed in early 2019 by his ex-fiancée.
Thomson, who with his mother Joan runs Waterfront Properties and Club Communities, pleaded “guilty in his best interest,” known as an Alford plea, to one count of a third-degree felony battery charge in Palm Beach County Criminal Court on Friday morning.
Thomson has been a licensed real estate agent in Florida since 1986, records show. Waterfront Properties is active in Palm Beach County, including Jupiter, Loxahatchee, Admirals Cove, Palm Beach Gardens and Hobe Sound.
As part of the plea deal, Thomson will be subject to drug and alcohol testing and will not be able to leave the state without permission from his probation officer. He will also have to enroll and complete the batterer’s intervention program, and won’t be allowed to have firearms in his possession. He also can’t contact his ex-fiancée.
If he were to violate the terms of his probation, Thomson could face up to five years in prison. He can apply for early termination of probation after 3.5 years of no violations, the plea deal states. Thomson did not respond to a request for comment.
The police were called to Thomson’s home on Quayside Drive in Jupiter on Valentine’s Day in 2019 after the then-couple celebrated their two-year anniversary of their engagement at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. According to the police report and Thomson’s ex-fiancée’s statement to the court on Friday, she said that he assaulted her in their bedroom and she blacked out. She said she suffered a concussion, two black eyes, and other injuries that she’s still dealing with.
In the courtroom on Friday, Thomson’s ex-fiancée, also a real estate agent, outlined his alleged abuses over the course of their relationship, and said that Thomson tried to bribe her through other people to drop the case.
“Several very wealthy, powerful people, and several of my former Waterfront Properties work colleagues called me and warned me that Rob is a formidable opponent, that [he] would destroy my reputation and [he would] make sure that I would never work in real estate again if I didn’t drop the case,” she said, adding that she wasn’t able to care for herself or earn an income.
Judge Daliah Weiss said she was “quite disturbed” by the victim’s testimony.
“The parties have expressed that they feel this is the best resolution to this matter,” Weiss said. “What she described is harrowing, sir. … This is an extremely serious matter with a lot hanging over your head,” she told Thomson.
Thomson’s attorney Dean Wilbur Jr. said Thomson is “happy it’s over with” and called the move to plead guilty in his best interest a “business decision.”
“After 18 months of it, he decided to resolve it,” Wilbur said.
The ex-fiancée’s attorney, Elizabeth Parker, said it was important for her client that Thomson plead guilty during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “Overcoming abuse does not happen overnight,” she said.
Thomson has been arrested before, dating back to 1995, according to Palm Beach County records. In 2015, he faced charges of domestic violence against his ex-wife Lorea Thomson.
Thomson recently represented the seller of a waterfront mansion in Jupiter, which sold to the founder and CEO of MyEyeDr for $11.2 million. He also brokered the nearly $6 million sale of another waterfront mansion in Jupiter that amateur golfer Ina Kim-Schaad bought in September.