The suspension of Telfair’s license will be lifted in 90 days.

Telfair initially was convicted of lying to police after a Sept. 1, 2017, trial in Petersburg General District Court, where Judge Ray P. Lupold III declared Telfair committed a “calculated” crime and admonished him for the harm he caused to the community.

But Telfair immediately appealed his conviction to Petersburg Circuit Court, even though he admitted on the witness stand that he had concocted the entire episode and made the racist threat in a call to himself with a TracFone that he sent another employee to buy earlier that same day.

At Telfair’s Sept. 1, 2017, trial in lower court, Telfair’s attorney, Thomas Johnson, argued that although his client’s actions were clearly wrong, he was under tremendous stress to cancel the Feb. 16, 2016 City Council meeting, and he was essentially acting at the behest of former Petersburg Mayor Howard Myers, who wanted the meeting scrapped.

Telfair’s phony call led to the abrupt cancellation of the City Council meeting, after city officials received word that residents were upset about high water bills and other financial issues plaguing the city.

After appealing his conviction to Circuit Court, Telfair pleaded guilty to the same charge on Nov. 15, 2017.