In the small Alabama town of Castleberry, once a highly profitable speed trap where the police department was five times larger than the national average, a lawsuit accusing the former police chief of theft, false imprisonment, and enforcing a made-up law, may about to be resolved.

More than 20 months have passed since local attorney Richard Nix filed suit against former police chief Tracy Hawsey and the town. During that time the contentious town law, or ordinance, that enabled Hawsey and his officers to pull people over and tow their vehicles for $500 each has been shelved and the police department shrunken from five full-time officers to two part-time officers that work on their days off from their regular jobs.

But the lawsuit, which is expected to be mediated before Christmas, according to Hawsey, remains. And while it may bring restitution to the plaintiffs in the case, some of which have never had their cars or cash returned, it also has the potential to devastate an already struggling Castleberry.

“We’re still terrible financially,” said Mayor Buddy Kirksey, who narrowly beat out the former mayor by just 30 votes during an election a little over two years ago. “The town can’t afford anything like this so right now we’re depending on the insurance companies to pay for it.”

In Oct. 2017, AL.com told the story of Trey Crozier, who was pulled over by Hawsey after improperly backing out of a driveway. Hawsey searched his vehicle and took $1,750, which he later claimed in Facebook posts was cash derived from illegal felony drug dealing or activity. No charges were ever filed against Crozier and Hawsey did not follow any kind of civil forfeiture procedure, according to court filings.

"The cops took every penny I had," Crozier said. "I have no idea where my money is now. I've tried to get it back for almost a year."

Crozier’s story is one of more than a dozen in court filings where Hawsey or one of his officers is accused of taking money and belongings on the basis that they were from the proceeds of drug crime. Hawsey is also accused of raiding people’s homes in Castleberry without the correct warrants and confiscating money and drugs while ultimately never filing charges. Most of Hawsey’s exploits were detailed in Facebook posts. Those have since been removed.

Hawsey has history of erratic behavior as a law enforcement officer dating back more than 15 years.

In 2002, Hawsey saw multiple drug bust cases thrown out of by judges after he and his deputies used improper police procedure when entering suspects properties, according to AL.com reporting from the time. Four years later, he stepped down as Conecuh County Sheriff two months before his second term was up, according to the Evergreen Courant. He had just lost a run-off. The resignation was seen at the time as being unprofessional given that deputies under him lost their arresting powers. A new Sheriff was sworn in immediately, only to find that food for inmates at the county jail had run out. New Sheriff, Edwin L. Booker, was forced to use his own money to feed inmates.

In Nix’s court filings, Hawsey is again accused of using improper procedures when entering the homes of local Castleberry suspects, and the cars of those that he pulled over.

Ashley Delassandri was pulled over by Hawsey for speeding in Aug. 2016. She received a ticket and was not charged with any other crime. Nevertheless, she was unlawfully detained, arrested and taken into custody by Hawsey, according to court documents. Her car was towed and she was placed in a cell. No charges were ever filed against her.

Miranda Mathis, who was added to the suit more recently had a similar experience to Dalessandri, except Hawsey offered to return her $500 provided Mathis traveled back to Castleberry to have lunch with him, according to court filings. This happened in March 2016. While seemingly innocent, attorney Nix told AL.com in an interview that this behavior could be the most alarming of all.

“It’s inappropriate in that he was in a position of authority over her and had her fate was in his hands,” said Nix. “She later lost her job over this.”

Over the last year, the lawsuit filed by Nix was severed into four different suits, allowing the accusations against Hawsey and the town to be categorized.

How Did this happen?

In 2009 Castleberry’s former Mayor J.B. Jackson hired Hawsey, who for a time was the only officer on duty.

"We didn't have much so Hawsey come to me and said 'There is a lot of crime in this town and a lot of drugs coming through this town,'" Jackson told AL.com "So he said ‘why don't we set up a court system to get some money coming in.’"

And that's exactly what happened. "We hired our own DA and own judge," Jackson added. "The revenues started to grow and we built out the police department."

Jackson said that before they set up the court system cases from the town went to Evergreen, a larger town about 15 minutes north that is home to about 4,000 people. He said the Castleberry cases would get thrown out regularly because Evergreen was so busy. So Jackson made the suggestion to the Castleberry city council. They agreed.

"At first I didn't think catching people speeding would last more than six months before they got the idea and slowed down," said Jackson. "It actually got worse."

Jackson died on May 21st, according to Mayor Kirksey. Financial documents from 2015 and 2016, the only records made available after repeated requests by AL.com, showed the importance of the police department and court system on Castleberry’s finances.

In 2016, revenues from the court system and the drug towing law, brought in more than $546,000, approximately double from the year before. At the same time, however, payroll for the cops and court quadrupled, according to financial documents.

The city began to accrue new debts, which was compounded by debts incurred by Hawsey’s ambitious plan to grow the police department with personnel, dispatchers, new equipment and at one point five cops cars. “We had to let two of the cars go back,” said Nix. “They were bought by Hawsey and Jackson two months before I took office. We’re still paying for what we couldn’t get back on them.”

Nix said he not yet sure how the lawsuit will work out for the plaintiffs, some of whom may not be content to mediate the issue. But regardless of what does happen, Nix is pleased that his work has achieved so much already.

“This lawsuit has already served a valuable purpose to the community at large: that being the fact that Tracy Hawsey no longer is patrolling the highway running through Castleberry, AL,” said Nix.