Limestone County Sheriff Mike Blakely was booked into his own jail today after being indicted on 13 charges of theft and state ethics violations.

Blakely, a Democrat, is currently serving his 10th consecutive term. He took office in 1983.

Blakely is charged with the following crimes:

Six felony counts of use of official position or office for personal gain

Two felony counts of first-degree theft

Two felony counts of second-degree theft

Two felony counts of third-degree theft

One misdemeanor count of fourth-degree theft

He’s accused of stealing $11,000 from his campaign account and illegally taking money from Limestone County funds, according to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office.

Blakely will plead not guilty to the charges, his attorneys Mark McDaniel, Robert Tuten and Marcus Helstowski told news reporters today. Blakely hasn’t spoken to the news media.

McDaniel said the defense team intends to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s ethics law.

“If they put anybody under the microscope, they’d be able to find something wrong because the law is so broad ,” McDaniel told AL.com.

Stephen Young, a sheriff’s office spokesman said at a press conference that Blakely was back to work this afternoon after being released on $49,000 bail.

“The sheriff’s office will continue to provide the best service as we always have,” he said.

Young declined to comment on specific details about the case.

“A grand jury indictment is not a conviction,” he said. “As sheriff Blakely once told me, ‘You can indict a ham sandwich.’”

A grand jury issues indictments when it determines prosecutors have enough evidence — probable cause — to formally charge a defendant and take a case to trial.

The indictments also accuse Blakely of using his position to acquire interest free loans “in the form of a $50,000 cashier’s check and/or a $22,189.68 credit,” and by taking money from a safe used to store Limestone County inmates’ personal funds, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a press release.

"Public officials are entrusted to perform their duties honestly and above reproach,” Marshall said. “When that bond of trust is broken, our society suffers undue harm. My office — working with our federal and state partners — is committed to ensuring that the violators of the public trust be held accountable under the law.

Blakely also faces a charge for soliciting a $1,000 wire transfer from a subordinate other than in the ordinary course of business, according to Marshall’s office.

The FBI helped investigate the case.

"While the overwhelming majority of public officials serve honorably, those who corrupt the operations of government rob their communities — their friends and neighbors — of the fundamental right to honest government, and we must insist on absolute honesty, integrity and trustworthiness from everyone,” said FBI Birmingham Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp Jr. in a press release.

Blakely was the subject of an investigation by the Alabama Ethics Commission, which last year found probable cause that the sheriff had violated state ethics law. The commission didn’t release any information about the nature of the case. The case was forwarded to the Alabama Attorney General’s Office for investigation.

In 2018, Blakely amended a 2016 ethics disclosure form to show he received more than $250,000 from Tennessee lottery and gaming establishments.

State ethics law requires elected officials and some other public employees to file the disclosure — known as a statement of economic interests — each year. The statement shows sources of income, debt and other information intended to disclose potential conflicts of interest between the filer’s public job and private financial interests.

State and federal authorities said they encourage the public to report suspected instances of corruption to report it to the FBI’s tip line at 844- 404-TIPS, or to the AG’s office at reportcorruption@ago.state.al.us.

Last updated at 3:52 p.m. to include a copy of the indictment.