Former Barbour County Sheriff Leroy Upshaw was convicted Tuesday on a felony ethics charge, Attorney General Steve Marshall announced.

Upshaw, 52, of Eufaula appeared in Barbour County Circuit Court and pled guilty to allegations charging him with using his office or official position for personal gain, a class B felony.

Upshaw was sheriff of Barbour County for 12 years, serving from January 2007 to January 2019.

At Tuesday’s plea hearing, Upshaw agreed that he, or a Sheriff’s Office employee acting at his direction, wrote Upshaw checks totaling $32,135 drawn from Sheriff’s Office bank accounts.

Although the $32,135 was meant to support law enforcement and care for prisoners, Upshaw deposited those checks into bank accounts owned by Upshaw or his family.

“Abusing the taxpayers’ money will not be tolerated in our state, and I am pleased the defendant will be held accountable for betraying the public’s trust,” said Marshall.

Marshall thanked the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts for their assistance in this case. He also commended the special agents of the Special Prosecutions Division and Assistant Attorneys General Jasper B. Roberts, Jr., James Houts, and Nathan W. Mays.