Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood is publicly blasting a judge after a reality television personality accused of participating in a nearly $200,000 real estate fraud scheme was released on bond.

Salome Jackson, known to television audiences from Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta and Cartel Crew, was arrested last week following an 11-month investigation by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Prosecutors charged Jackson with money laundering, grand theft, organized scheme to defraud and identity theft. Authorities say the investigation involved a real estate scam that cost local victims approximately $198,000.

According to investigators, the victims believed they were paying nearly $200,000 to purchase land next to property they already owned. The property, however, was not actually for sale. Investigators say the money moved through shell companies and bank accounts in Florida, New York, and New Jersey, with Jackson allegedly receiving nearly all of the proceeds.

The arrest took place at an airport as Jackson was preparing to board an international flight to Colombia, according to Chitwood.

Jackson was booked into jail on a $300,000 bond. Chitwood says the original bond came with a specific condition: before being released, Jackson would have to provide proof that the money used to secure her freedom did not come from criminal activity.

That condition changed when Judge Kathleen McNeilly removed the requirement, according to the sheriff’s Facebook post. With the financial-source verification requirement gone, Jackson was able to post bond without proving where the money came from.

She was released the following afternoon.

For Chitwood, that decision crossed a serious line. The veteran sheriff accused McNeilly of treating the case with less urgency than investigators who had spent nearly a year building it.

Chitwood Takes Aim at the Judge

Chitwood did not hide his frustration. He sarcastically referred to McNeilly as Judge “Kick Em Loose,” arguing that the ruling represented another setback for law enforcement and victims.

“It would be nice if certain judges took these cases as seriously as law enforcement does,” Chitwood wrote.

His criticism goes beyond Jackson’s release. The sheriff framed the dispute as a question of whether the justice system is adequately protecting victims while fraud suspects remain free pending trial.

Chitwood also made the political stakes unmistakable. He urged residents to remember the episode when McNeilly seeks their votes, turning a dispute over bond conditions into an open challenge to the judge’s record and judgment.

Jackson remains accused, not convicted, of the charges. The allegations will ultimately have to be tested in court. But for Chitwood, the controversy is already about something bigger: whether an investigation involving an alleged $198,000 loss should end with a suspect walking out of jail without having to explain where her bond money came from.