When Lauderdale County Circuit Judge Gil Self was arrested last week, he became the latest Alabama official to be charged with ethics violations and/or felony theft for misusing public funds.
Self's January 29th arrest for using his office for personal gain and/or gain of family members, making a false representation to state auditors, and perjury, was announced by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall in a press release.
Marshall's office prosecuted the well-publicized case against former Limestone County Sheriff Michael Blakely, who was convicted of theft and ethics charges in 2021. Blakely is serving his prison sentence in the Franklin County Jail.
Additionally, the AG's office joined the Mobile County District Attorney's office in investigating former Prichard Water Board operations manager Nia Bradley on allegations of misusing a board-issued credit card and other funds allegedly used for trips, lavish meals and luxury purchases for herself.
Bradley's felony charges of theft first degree and aggravated theft by deception are pending in Mobile County Circuit Court and she has not been convicted of any offense. The same is true for Self, who faces 18 felony charges in a pending indictment.
At the heart of each case are alleged misuse of public funds entrusted to the defendants for official use.
At Blakely's trial, the evidence showed he converted funds from jail accounts into his personal bank account. Evidence showed Blakely eventually paid all converted funds back prior to his trial.
When news broke in October 2023 about Self's allegedly improper use of court funds exceeding $140,000, it was reported that Self repaid most of those funds after a state audit found the expenses were impermissible.
But the state went forward with Blakely's and Self's prosecution even though most or all of the money at issue was reimbursed.
Bradley's defense attorney has asserted she was authorized to make all purchases and expenses that form the basis of her charges.
Blakely and Self, as elected officials at the time of their arrests, were charged with ethics violations.
Bradley, whose operations manager position with the Prichard Water Board is appointed by the board, is charged with two felony theft charges outside of Alabama Ethics Laws.
Self's charges include allegations he employed his son as a clerk and paid him more than $50,000, making personal purchases with court funds and reimbursing himself for lavish trips and travel.
In November 2022, the FFP began an investigative series of articles on questionable financial management and spending by the Russellville Electric Board and its manager Charles Canida.
Records produced by the REB showed Canida and some board members attended two-day beach conferences with a total of eight hours of business and REB ratepayers footed a bill of more than $35,000 in 2022.
Canida and others stayed five nights in luxury three-bedroom condominiums off site at Hidden Dunes, rather than staying at the Hilton Sandestin Beach Resort, which hosted the conference.
For several years, these beach trips also saw REB ratepayers paying for Canida to rent a private chartered fishing vessel at a cost of more than $2,000, as well as an ice chest, drinks and snacks for their private charter.
Canida also regularly used his REB credit card for ratepayer-funded meals that cost anywhere from $1,789 to more than $4,100 for one meal.
In response to an Open Records Act request filed in 2021, Canida provided statements of two bank accounts in the name of the Russellville Electric Board. Even though REB had a third account, at Alabama Central Credit Union, at the time of the open records request, Canida provided no documentation to show the existence of this account.
In 2022, the FFP asked specifically for statements of the Alabama Central Credit Union account and more than two months later, after Canida closed the account, those records were provided.
The hidden account was opened three years earlier with $25,000 of ratepayer money. Over the next three years, Canida's secretary withdrew more than $9,000 of cash and gift cards. Each withdrawal came within days of a conference Canida and/or board members attended, or in the days before a lavish Christmas party Canida and the board hosted each year at the Shoals Marriott.
Those annual Christmas parties, which often included door prizes well in excess of the $25 limit outlined in the Alabama Ethics Code, cost as much as $8,000 each year, once again paid for by ratepayers. In one instance, Canida used ratepayer funds to purchase a soft drink in a local convenience store.
At the time, he was provided a luxury SUV, gas, a monthly car wash subscription, bonuses, retirement, insurance, and full reimbursement for all trips.
Canida's credit card records showed purchases of designer cutlery, gourmet chocolates, Dollywood tickets and other luxury items.
Additionally, through 2021, Canida regularly paid bonuses, described as 'performance and safety incentives' to board members, even after former board chairman Darren Woodruff notified the Alabama Ethics Commission about his concerns in receiving bonuses that far exceeded state law for the maximum compensation that could be paid to REB members.
In February 2022, five board members paid back approximately $30,000 of these illegal bonuses. This did not represent the entirety of bonus money they were paid. Instead, they reimbursed bonuses received from 2019-2021.
Prosecution for any payments prior to that date were barred by the statute of limitations.
While Self and Bradley await trial dates for their charges, and as Blakely serves his sentence in the Franklin County Jail, there has been no legal action taken against Canida or the board.
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