NEWS > 18 November 2006

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Huntsville Times - Huntsville,
18 November 2006

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Ex-officer gets prison sentenc

Man likely to serve less than a year in sex-solicitation case

GUNTERSVILLE - A former police officer in Arab convicted of soliciting sex in exchange for not writing traffic tickets against four women or reducing their charges will go to prison.

Circuit Judge David Evans sentenced Shane Alldredge on Friday to three years on each of four convictions on charges of seeking personal gain for the purpose of influencing an official action.

On Sept. 28, a jury of six men and six women found him guilty on all four state ethics charges.

Evans said the sentences are to be served simultaneously. He also denied probation for the seven-year veteran of the Arab Police Department.

District Attorney Steve Marshall and defense attorney Randy Gladden of Huntsville said that if Alldredge loses on his appeal, he could spend four to eight months in prison under Alabama's Good Time law.

Dressed in a brown suit and standing beside Gladden, Alldredge, 30, appeared to be trying to control his emotions as Evans announced the sentence. He and his pregnant wife, Heather, who said she is expecting their child in the next five days, left the courtroom holding hands. He declined to comment.

Alldredge will remain free on a $10,000 bond during his appeal, which could take months or even years, Gladden said after court.

Gladden said it could have been much worse for his client. Alldredge was facing up to 20 years in prison on each conviction. "This case was harder than a three-week-long capital murder case," he said.

Marshall, who prosecuted the case with Assistant District Attorney Byron Waldrop, said he felt good about the sentence.

During the sentencing hearing, Marshall recommended a 10-year sentence with Alldredge serving two years and being placed on probation for the remaining eight years.

Also during Friday's hearing, a woman testifying for prosecutors said she had sex with Alldredge in May 2004 in exchange for his dropping a driving-under-the-influence violation and other charges.

Jennifer Bradford, 30, of Arab, who is serving a two-year sentence in a state work-release program in Birmingham for making methamphetamine, cried as she described the act.

Evans allowed Bradford's testimony because the prosecution did not know about her allegation until after the trial.

Alldredge denied Bradford's allegation. He said he had cheated on his wife several times but had never done anything unethical as a police officer.

Although Alldredge denied having solicited sex from any of the victims, he said he was willing to accept the jury's findings. He said he had already been punished by being fired and humiliated by people in his community. He urged Evans to grant him probation.

"I ask you to give me an opportunity to be a husband and a father," he told the judge.

Alldredge's wife was among several character witnesses.

Heather Alldredge said she discovered that her husband had cheated on her in September 2004 but has forgiven him. But she said she does not believe he did what he was convicted of.

Before turning his life around two years ago, she said, "he had been self-centered (and) arrogant. But he's not the man a lot of people think he is."

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Article sourced from

Huntsville Times - Huntsville,18 November 2006

Ex-officer gets prison sentenc

EiP Comments:

Huntsville Times - Huntsville,
18 November 2006