Friday, May 14, 2010

Impeachment charges brought against Steve Nodine

A grand jury in Mobile has brought impeachment charges against County Commissioner Steve Nodine. These charges are not related to Steve Nodine being named the only suspect in the murder of his mistress, Angel Downs.

The Mobile County grand jury issued five impeachment charges: willful neglect of duty, corruption in office, incompetency, intemperance in the use of alcohol or narcotics, and offenses involving moral turpitude.

Those charges include:

According to the bill, Nodine has been accused of:

* Using his county-issued pickup truck for "personal and recreational pursuits" including using the vehicle to conduct "a long term, open and notorious extramarital affair" with Angel Downs. At one point, in 2008, he lost one county truck during Mardi Gras for six days. More recently, Nodine drove a county truck to Don Carlos restaurant in Daphne after drinking beer on the beach and spending the day with Downs, the bill says.

* Asking for county reimbursement for alcohol, fuel and food in New Orleans that were not related to his official duties.

* Committing multiple acts of domestic violence in his extra-marital relationship with Downs, including stalking, harassment, verbal and physical abuse, and threats. During two such incidents, the bill says, Nodine invoked his official position as a commissioner to dissuade Downs from seeking police protection.

* Using fraudulent prescriptions to obtain more than 2,400 hydrocodone pills from at least nine pharmacies in four states between March 2009 and January 2010.

The bill also says a May 11 drug test showed Nodine had marijuana and opiates in his system.

The grand jury recommended that Nodine be removed from office.


Will any charges be filed against him for doctor shopping?

What a piece of work this guy is. How in the hell do you lose a truck for six days?

I have a feeling that before all is said and done Mr. Steve Nodine will be found to be connected to some of the largest drug traffickers in Mobile and possibly in the nation. One of my professors said he once worked for the ABI and that in every town in Alabama one of a handful of powerful people controls the drug trade. A judge, D.A., police chief, sheriff, or a county commissioner. Someone with a lot of money and a lot of power pulled a lot of strings and twisted a lot of arms for Nodine to be able to get away with all of these things for as long as he did.

The sad thing is that he makes all people who consume cannabis in a responsible manner look bad. I am actually very surprised that Mr. Nodine is involved with marijuana at all. Usually the power trippers prefer cocaine/crack/meth.

4 comments:

sixstring said...

Nodine was arrested on the drug charges - GRAND JURY INDICTED HIM. He is out on bond.....

Schnitzel_Republic said...

Actually this is probably the best script in years for a movie. A real police force would have dragged this guy in, and done some serious interviews and already arrested...so that says alot about the Mobile region and the other folks involved in this deal.

As for the truck lost in New Orleans...you have to seriously wonder how it was ever recovered...or if he parked it while drunk and came to remember later where it actually was. While in the Air Force...I knew a guy who parked his own car drunk on base...and it took him two days to figure out where he'd parked it.

The real question here...will this guy ever spend a day in jail? I'm ready to wager...no. And that says alot for the local area.

Loretta Nall said...

Agreed Rilpey.

Sidenote: I read the indictment bill returned yesterday and it says the truck was lost in Mobile. Parked somewhere off Dauphin Street during Mardi Gras and only recovered when someone called to have it towed. They ran the tag number and discovered it was Nodine's.

I am very disappointed in the Press Register for their lack of reporting on this guy. He carried on a public affair with the murder victim for 6 years, lost his gvt issued truck for six days, got busted with marijuana and hydrocodone, and had numerous other unflattering incidents and the Press Register never said a word until now.

There are a lot of powerful people involved up to their eyeballs in this mess. The question is why would they (county commission, news paper, hell even political opponents) cover for him or not go after him? What is so important about this slug? Or, is it that he has something to blackmail everyone in town with?

Don said...

The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones." A quote from Act 3, scene ii of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.

So shall it be with Nodine when he rots in prison is my hope.