Late Sunday, reports surfaced that Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes had been indicted for multiple charges and had turned himself in at the Lee County Jail in Opelika before being released on a $31,000 bond over the weekend.
According to a statement from Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office, the allegations include “using his office for personal gain, including paying private attorneys with public funds to settle a matter that benefited himself and his wife.” Also included, according to the release, were charges of “illegal hiring of his three children” to work for the Lee County DA’s office and “illegally using the authority of his office” to issue a subpoena to a private business to gather evidence for his defense to potential criminal charges.
The release also discloses a conspiracy to commit first-degree theft charge, which alleges that Hughes and others agreed to steal a 1985 Ford Ranger from a business located in nearby Chambers County, and a perjury charge alleging Hughes gave false testimony to a grand jury.
Marshall has recused himself from the case, according to the AG’s office.
“The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Clark Morris, with Assistant Attorney General Jasper Roberts of the Special Prosecutions Division,” the statement said. “The Attorney General recused himself from this matter, due to his previous service alongside Hughes in the Alabama District Attorneys Association.”
It is unknown if the matter is related to Hughes’ self-reporting a possible ethics issue to the Alabama Ethics Commission back in April, which was later voted on by the commission to be sent to Marshall’s office.
Hughes was elected in 2016 and assumed office in 2017.
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
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