Why Did Ted Rollins' Former Stepson React With Rage to My Request for an Interview?

Zac Parrish

(Editor's Note: The following post contains language that some readers might find offensive.)

Zac Parrish, the former stepson of Campus Crest Communities CEO Ted Rollins, flew into a profanity-filled rage when I asked him via telephone last week for an interview on subjects related to the Rollins v. Rollins divorce case.

Parrish's anger, however, apparently went beyond words. He made several curious statements that indicate he was trying to provoke me into some sort of physical confrontation. If that's the case--and Zac Parrish is welcome to correct me if my impression is wrong--why would a simple interview request spark thoughts of violence?

After all, the gist of my reporting on the Rollins divorce case has been this: Sherry Carroll Rollins (Zac Parrish's mother) and her daughters, Sarah and Emma (Zac Parrish's half sisters), have been horribly cheated in a divorce case unlawfully brought by Ted Rollins (Sherry's former husband and Zac's former stepfather) in Shelby County, Alabama. A reasonable person might expect Zac Parrish to be pleased that a journalist is shining light on a court case in which his mother and sisters were the victims of a corrupt circuit judge named D. Al Crowson.

But you would be wrong. As I reported last Friday, Zac Parrish responded to my interview request by calling me just about every name in the book--and adding a few colorful names that might not be in the book. As I've gone over my notes from that conversation, I've decided that Zac Parrish probably was wanting to inflict, or at least threaten, violence upon my person. Sherry Rollins has told me on several occasions that her youngest son is fond of guns, belongs to a hunting club near Tuscaloosa, and has even been known to carry an Italian-made pistol in his truck.

Was Zac Parrish hoping to entice me into a modern-day version of The Shootout at the OK Corral? If so, it would have been an unfair firefight given that I don't own a firearm--although conversations like the one I had with Parrish last week are starting to make me think that needs to change.

What about Parrish's "curious statements" that I mentioned earlier? Well, they came not long after Parrish said, "If you've got something you want to know from me, or about my family, why don't you come fucking meet me face to face?"

Thinking he genuinely was willing to do an in-person interview, I said, "I'll be happy to. You want to set up a time?" I even suggested we do it the next day. But it soon became clear that Parrish was not interested in a face-to-face interview. Consider this exchange from later in our conversation (ZP is Zac Parrih; LS is me, Legal Schnauzer):

ZP: I'm going to leave it at this right now: Let this serve as fair warning. Do not contact me again.

LS: Well, I thought you said you would meet with me in person. That's what you just said.

ZP: Roger, you know what I meant by that.

LS: No, I don't . . .

ZP: You'd love nothing more . . . Roger, I'm not going to stoop to your level, but listen to me: Don't you fucking contact me again.

LS: Well then, can I talk to you now?

ZP: Do you understand? No, no . . . I'm about to hang up again.

What are we to make of this? Well, it seems that when Zac Parrish suggested I meet him face to face to ask him questions, he didn't really mean it. He meant something else. What? I didn't know then, and I don't know for sure now. But having thought about it, I can only assume that he had some form of intimidation or physical threat in mind. That's a pretty unusual response to a question that could have been answered with a simple, "I don't want to talk with you about those matters. I have no comment. Have a nice day."

What is going on with Zac Parrish? The picture remains murky, but based on numerous conversations I've had with Sherry Rollins, it appears that Zac Parrish and his two Birmingham-based construction companies have benefited nicely from support of the Rollins family. That's the same Rollins family that took extraordinary steps to help Ted Rollins cheat his ex wife and daughters out of alimony and child support to which they were entitled under the law.

As we've reported in previous posts, Ted Rollins did this partly by grossly understating his income on a CS-41, a sworn Alabama child-support document. Public records indicate that Ted Rollins had assistance in this endeavor from R. Randall Rollins, his cousin who is the chairman of Rollins Inc., the umbrella company for Orkin Pest Control. Randall Rollins and his brother, Gary (president and CEO of Rollins Inc.), are billionaires and two of the five wealthiest people in Atlanta--which, of course, is the center of commerce in the Southeast.

If Randall Rollins helped his cousin deceive the court in the Rollins divorce case, how did he do it? Well, public records indicate that Randall and Ted Rollins had started a real-estate investment firm called St. James Capital LLC during Ted's marriage to Sherry Rollins. Records also show that, when Rollins v. Rollins unlawfully was moved from South Carolina to Alabama, someone essentially helped St. James Capital--or at least Ted Rollins' interest in it--disappear. Sherry Rollins' interest in a clear marital asset, under the law, also seemed to disappear.

We still are piecing together Randall Rollins' role in all of this. But this much is certain: Some serious deception went on in an Alabama courtroom regarding St. James Capital. And it appears this caused a significant transfer of wealth--with money that should have gone to Sherry, Sarah, and Emma Rollins going somewhere else.

Where did it go? My conversations with Sherry Rollins indicate that one destination was Zac Parrish's construction businesses. In fact, the one person close to Sherry Rollins who seems to have emerged from the Rollins divorce case in good financial shape is her youngest son, Zac Parrish. Everyone else is, or has been, on food stamps. (Actually, that's not quite true; Eric Parrish, Ms. Rollins' oldest son, also seems to be faring pretty well in the construction business. He works for Birmingham-based Brasfield Gorrie, which has deep ties to Bradley Arant, Ted Rollins' primary corporate law firm.)

Once Sherry and Ted Rollins were divorced, Zac Parrish had pretty much no ties to the Rollins family. He wasn't related to them by blood, marriage, or anything else. So why has the Rollins corporate machine remained friendly to Zac Parrish, while dumping all over two teen-aged girls (Sarah and Emma Rollins) who have the family blood coursing through their veins?

That is one of several questions I wanted to put to Zac Parrish. He clearly wanted no part of answering it.