http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/i...labama_food_inmate_co.html#incart_river_index
Morgan County Sheriff Ana Franklin did use money from the jail's inmate food fund to loan $150,000 to a now-bankrupt used car dealership, her attorneys said in court records.
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Franklin is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday morning at 9 a.m. for a hearing, but in a joint motion the sheriff and the Center have asked for a continuance. U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon has not yet issued a ruling on the request.
The hearing regards whether Franklin violated a 2009 consent order that says the Morgan County sheriff cannot use inmate food funds for anything other than feeding inmates. Franklin declined to comment, saying she can't speak about the case until after the hearing.
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"Sheriff Franklin acknowledges that the money she loaned that business came from funds removed from the Peoples Bank Food Account," the motion states.
Franklin was one of several people listed as a creditor in a March 2016 bankruptcy filing after Priceville Partners closed. The business' co-owner was arrested on accusations of running a theft and scam operation. That co-owner, Greg Steenson, went to federal prison for an unrelated check kiting scheme in the 90s. Franklin has said she did not know Steenson was a co-owner when she made a loan to the company.
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Morgan County prosecutors are alleging Steenson was selling stolen vehicles at the used car lot. The vehicles weren't owned by Steenson or the dealership, and clear titles weren't provided for the purchases, according to court records.
Franklin's lawyers also said in their response that what she did with the money doesn't matter because its' her private account. That assertion, however, is in question.
In general, Alabama sheriffs are allowed to keep any unspent food funds, but in Morgan County the consent decree prohibits the county's top cop from pocketing the money in addition to the $68,000 salary.
The consent decree stems from a 2001 federal lawsuit filed by Morgan County Jail inmates about conditions in the facility. The inmates sued the county and then-sheriff Steve Crabbe.
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Franklin must comply with the consent decree because "public officials are automatically substituted as parties to any case in which their predecessors in office were sued in their official capacity," according to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Franklin's predecessor, Greg Bartlett, was jailed for contempt of court after he was substituted as a defendant for Crabbe. Bartlett, who was dubbed "Sheriff Corndog" was found in contempt because he pocketed more than $200,000 while inmates were fed corndogs twice a day for weeks.
Franklin's attorneys argue the ruling doesn't apply to her, as U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon, who issued the consent decree, did not find unconstitutional the state law that allows sheriffs to keep unspent food funds.
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Franklin removed $150,000 and $10,000 from the food account on June 5, 2015 by using two cashier's checks. Franklin refused to show records about what happened with the $160,000, the center said in its motion. But, she provided a document that showed an account named "Ana Woodard Franklin, Food Account" had a $160,000 balance in February. The account is listed under a Hartselle home address.
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