FORMER POLICE CHIEF FACING DRUG, OTHER CHARGES

A former police chief from another town in Alabama is facing serious legal trouble after being arrested on both drug and other charges that also supposedly involved the use of drugs.

In the chief’s first case, authorities charged him with misdemeanor drug crimes after someone found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the man’s duty cruiser. How authorities came to search the former chief’s car was not clear, but he was fired from his job shortly after being charged.

More recently, a grand jury indicted the man on several counts related to his allegedly sexually assaulting a relative who is also legally a minor. One of the charges also included an allegation that the man provided an illegal substance to a minor.

The recent charges also suggested that the alleged victim had been physically or mentally unable to give consent at the time the incident occurred; the age of the alleged victim was not clear. The former police chief has publicly denied these most recent allegations, saying that they are not true.

As this case shows, those who are at one point in their lives highly respected, even to the point where they are expected to enforce the rules, can run in to trouble with drugs. Not only can drug charges themselves tank their careers and their personal reputations, but charges related to drug use can also cause real problems for them, even if they manage to avoid significant prison time.

While one might think that status is helpful in a situation like this, many times, the opposite is true. If convicted, high profile defendants sometimes can face harsher than average punishments because people reason that they should have known better. Any Mobile resident facing drug charges should strongly consider seeking the advice of an experienced attorney.