Cherokee county attorney convicted

Rodney Stallings

A Cherokee county attorney has been convicted of first-degree theft from the State Fair Trial Tax Fund, according to a news release from Attorney General Luther Strange.

 A jury in Cherokee County Circuit Court convicted Rodney Stallings late Tuesday following a two-day trial. Sentencing is set for Jan. 5.

 The attorney general's office presented evidence that Stallings stole $328,246 by intentionally filing 246 false fee declarations for indigent defense cases in which he was not entitled to receive payment. Stallings never appeared as counsel in some of the cases, and in others he made up case numbers as well as defendants.

 His criminal acts occurred between 2006 and 2012. He was suspended in 2012 by the Alabama State Bar Association.

 In finding Stallings guilty, the jury found the existence of two aggravating factors: that the theft involved the taking of property having great monetary value and that it occurred over an extended period of time with a high degree of sophistication involved.

 Stallings faces a potential sentence of two to 20 years for the Class B felony.