Posted 4/30/24

Mike Blakely, once Alabama’s longest serving sheriff, was released from jail yesterday (Monday) after being paroled earlier this month.

Blakely, the former sheriff of Limestone County, served just over a year of his three-year sentence.

Blakely, who is 73, was removed from office in 2021 immediately after a Limestone County jury found him guilty of stealing from his campaign account and abusing his power to get interest-free loans from a safe that held cash belonging to county jail inmates.

After a three-week trial, the jury convicted Blakely of stealing from his campaign account by funneling the money through Red Brick Strategies, a Huntsville consulting firm. The jurors also found Blakely guilty of obtaining interest free loans from a safe that held money belonging to inmates in the county jail he oversaw as sheriff.

They found him not guilty of eight other charges of theft and abuse of power.

By a vote of 2-1 the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles decided in favor of Blakely’s parole April 11th on the condition that he must complete 100 hours of community service.