On Thursday, a Montgomery County Special Grand Jury cleared former Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Secretary Spencer Collier, who was fired by Gov. Robert Bentley in March for alleged "misused of state funds," of any criminal wrongdoing while in office.
“In the course of the investigation, no witness provided credible evidence of criminal ‘misuse of state funds,'” Attorney General Luther Strange said in a statement Thursday. “No witness provided credible evidence of any other criminal violation on the part of former Secretary Collier.”
Collier said Thursday he felt a weight had been lifted off his shoulders after the grand jury's refusal to indict him on any charges.
“I knew all along that I did nothing wrong,” Collier told The Alabama Political Reporter. “From the beginning, I welcomed an outside investigation. As I’ve read the attorney general’s release, it is pretty clear they dealt in facts — not rumors, not innuendo and not second- and third-person conversations. They dealt in facts.”
Bentley placed Collier on medical leave in February. The governor told the press he placed him on leave because Collier disobeyed the governor's order to steer clear of a special prosecutions ethics investigation into former House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn.
The attorney general requested Collier submit a sworn affidavit, and Collier said he felt he had a duty to comply as a law enforcement officer.
In March, Bentley fired Collier and alleged he had "misused state funds" while in office. Shortly after his firing was made public, Collier accused Bentley of having an extra-marital affair with his former top political aide, Rebekah Mason.
The internal ALEA report suggested Collier purchased clothing and guns in violation of agency policy, among several other now-discredited allegations.
Collier has said his firing was politically motivated and the allegations of misconduct were fabricated to justify his firing.
On Thursday, Strange said there was “no credible basis for the initiation of a criminal inquiry in the first place."
The grand jury, which was impaneled by the attorney general's office, refused to return any indictments against Collier after Strange’s team presented findings from a criminal investigation they conducted after combing through an internal ALEA report, which has now been mostly discredited, and interviewing several witnesses.
Bentley, in a statement Thursday night, said he was satisfied with the new direction of ALEA and with Stabler’s new leadership.
“Based on concerns presented to me by a member of the Alabama Senate and information that was given to the then-Acting Secretary of ALEA Stan Stabler, when he assumed his position, I felt a new direction in our state law enforcement agency was needed,” Bentley said. “The information obtained by the ALEA integrity unit was gathered and presented to the Attorney General’s office and a determination has been made.”
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