FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
December 17, 2015
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2015
AG STRANGE ANNOUNCES ARREST OF GOODWATER CITY CLERK FOR
THEFT OF OVER $150,000 IN CITY FUNDS
(MONTGOMERY) – Attorney General Luther Strange announced the arrest of the city
clerk of Goodwater, Alabama, for theft. Leslie S. Parker, 27, of Sylacauga was arrested
today by special agents of the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division.
Acting on a complaint from a concerned citizen, the Attorney General’s Special
Prosecutions Division obtained evidence showing that Parker manipulated the City of
Goodwater’s payroll system to pay herself at least $150,000 more than her salary, from
2013 until December 2015. Although she was not entitled to vacation pay, sick pay,
holiday pay, or overtime pay, she entered false hours in those categories into the City’s
payroll system in order to increase her paycheck. Based on this information, special
agents filed a criminal complaint and obtained an arrest warrant for Parker.*
Theft of property in the first degree is a class B felony, which carries a possible prison
sentence of 2 to 20 years in the Department of Corrections.
Attorney General Strange commended his Special Prosecutions Division for its
investigation and thanked the Coosa County Sheriff’s Office and the Sylacauga Police
Department for their cooperation and assistance.
*A criminal complaint is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty.
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501 Washington Avenue * Montgomery, AL 36104 * (334) 242-7300
www.ago.alabama.gov
