A high-profile sheriff called his assistant from a Las Vegas casino and ordered her to wire him cash stored in a jailhouse safe, according to testimony in an Alabama court.
The bombshell claim was made Tuesday during the trial of Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely who is charged with 11 counts of theft and abuse, accused of 'borrowing' $29,050 in jailhouse money over three years.
Prosecutors claim the sheriff 'abused his position for personal gain by obtaining interest free loans from the safe' between 2013 and 2016. Most of the money purportedly belonged to inmates.
Blakely, who has served as county sheriff since 1983, pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is currently continuing to work as sheriff, but will be automatically removed from office if convicted. He also faces the prospect of several decades behind bars.
Ramona Robinson, who previously worked as a Limestone County jail clerk, testified Tuesday that she wired Blakely $500 at the Palace Station Casino in Sin City on November 8, 2014.
Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely has been charged with 11 counts of theft and abuse after he allegedly 'borrowed' $29,050 of jailhouse money over a period of three years
She claimed her boss requested she wire more money the following year when he returned to the same casino.
Robinson told the court she did not know Blakely what he needed the funds for. 'I didn't ask, and he didn't tell,' she stated, according to AL.com.
Lawyers for Blakely seized on that, saying the sheriff may have needed the money for law enforcement purposes.
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ShareThey claim it is impossible to prove that Blakely used the cash for personal reasons.
Blakely 'eventually' gave her 19 checks from his personal bank account to replace the inmate funds, Robinson said.
However, the sheriff allegedly asked her to hold the checks for several weeks before depositing them so that his account would not be overdrawn.
Ramona Robinson, who previously worked as a Limestone County jail clerk, testified Tuesday that she wired Blakely $500 while he was gambling at the Palace Station Casino in Sin City on November 8, 2014
The money, most of which belonged to inmates, was stored at the jail
Prosecutors contend that Blakely only stopped taking 'loans' from the inmate safe partway through 2016, when a sum of more than $900,000 was mysteriously deposited into his account. It is unclear where the money came from.
However, Blakely was known to be a gambler and won a whopping $250,000 in Tennessee that same year.
However, his attorney, Nick Lough, insinuated that his client may have won the lottery.
'Is it illegal to win the lottery?' Lough asked in court.
Blakely's trial will continue this week.
Prosecutors contend that Blakely only stopped taking 'loans' from the inmate safe partway through 2016, when a sum of more than $900,000 was mysteriously deposited into his account around the same time
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