Court backlog puts Garden City 200K restitution on hold

Patrick Camp, The Cullman Times, Ala.
·2 min read

Sep. 1—GARDEN CITY — After their arrests nearly a year ago, Shannon James and Leslie Johnson-Link — two former Garden City employees accused of stealing more than $200,000 from the town — are still awaiting trial, leaving the town unable to collect its missing funds.

An investigation from the Alabama Ethics Commission alleges James, the former town clerk, and Johnson-Link, the former utility clerk and James' sister, stole $207,000 from the town using fraudulent or forged checks, and misused credit cards and fraudulent time sheets.

At the time of the arrests, Cullman County District Attorney Wilson Blaylock told The Times that because of the amount of money stolen, his office would be requesting jail time as a potential punishment.

On Wednesday, Blaylock said both parties had been indicted and were currently awaiting trial. However, due to a hefty backlog created during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no estimate as to when a trial would take place.

For Garden City, that means a big cut from the town's annual budget.

The town has filed a claim with its insurance company, The Alabama Municipalities Insurance Corporation, but due to a policy of not issuing payouts until all criminal charges associated with the claim have been resolved, the town has not been able to recover any of the stolen funds. With a budget of $411,143 for the 2022 fiscal year, these funds account for what would have been nearly half of the town's budget for the year.

"If they want to take their case to trial, it might be a while" Blaylock said.

James was charged with two felony ethics crimes: Use of office for personal gain in the amount of $187,000 and the use of public property for personal benefit in the amount of $6,900. Johnson-Link was also charged with using her position for personal gain in the amount of $5,900, and using public property for personal benefit in the amount of $3,800.

Charges were also filed against both James' and Johnson-Link's spouses in relation to the crimes. Jeremy James was charged with aggravated theft by deception, and Kelly Link — who married Johnson-Link after she was placed on administrative leave, but before arrests were made — was charged with illegal possession/use of a credit card.