Mike Blakely, once Alabama’s longest serving sheriff, will soon get out of jail. He won parole on Thursday by a vote of 2-1.
Parole board members Darryl Littleton and Gabrelle Simmons voted in favor of parole. Board chair Leigh Gwathney voted against parole, saying she wanted the former sheriff to finish his sentence in jail.
The board deliberated for several minutes. When the decision was announced, several people erupted in applause and in tears.
Blakely, a Democrat, was the elected sheriff of Limestone County in north Alabama for nearly four decades until he was convicted of two felony charges of theft and abuse of power on Aug. 2, 2021.
The hearing was a continuation from last month, when the board tied on a 1-1 vote on Blakely’s release in Simmons’ absence. Alabama’s parole rate is 8%, the lowest in the country.
The parole board room was filled with people who came in support of Blakely. Deborah Bell Paseur, who served as a district judge in Lauderdale County for over 20 years, spoke on his behalf, asking the board, “How much punishment is enough?”
Paseur said that Blakely, who had served just over a year of his three year sentence, has already been publicly humiliated, lost his retirement pension, his voting rights and gun rights.
“Mike Blakely has given much and still has much left to give… a bright light has gone dim in Limestone County. He is loved and respected there,” she said.
Passeur listed the many supporters who filed into overflow seats, as well as those who could not be present but wrote letters of support, including the Athens City police chief, a retired New York City Police Department detective, members of the legislature and even the state’s Republican Party Chairman John Wahl, who was Blakely’s neighbor.
Maggie Settle, a former employee of the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office, and Dan Totten, a criminal defense lawyer from Limestone County, also spoke on Blakely’s behalf.
Sarah Deneve from the Alabama Attorney General’s office was the lone voice opposing Blakely’s parole, saying that serving less than half his time would “undermine the sentence imposed by the court.”
“He took advantage of his very own inmates by taking their money to the tune of $29,000 to finance a lifestyle he could not afford,” Deneve said. “While Blakely may be sorry now, his selfish actions while serving as an elected official and law enforcement officer harms society as a whole.”
At trial, state prosecutors said he routinely borrowed money from a safe holding inmate money, stole $11,000 from his campaign, misused or stole money from his office funds, went gambling on the taxpayers’ dime, solicited money from one of his employees and traded inmate labor in exchange for a $50,000 loan.
But Robert Tuten, Blakely’s attorney, told the jury that prosecutors did not prove that the sheriff intended to commit any crimes. And that he did not keep any money. “There’s no missing money,” he said. “All the accounts balance.”
In the end, the jury in 2021 found Blakely guilty of obtaining $29,050 in interest free loans from a safe that held money belonging to people in the county jail. The jury also found Blakely guilty of stealing $4,000 from his campaign account by funneling the money through Red Brick Strategies, a Huntsville consulting firm.
The jury acquitted him of eight other charges.
Upon his release, Blakely must complete 100 hours of community service.