MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The head of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has confirmed that one of its helicopters delivered Governor Robert Bentley’s wallet to him after the governor accidentally forgot it during an argument with his-then wife. Yellowhammer News broke the story Tuesday evening citing confidential sources inside the Bentley administration.
According to Yellowhammer’s original sources, Gov. Bentley and his then-wife Dianne had an argument at the couple’s private residence in Tuscaloosa over Gov. Bentley’s refusal to sever ties with Mrs. Mason, his top political advisor-turned-mistress.
As a result of the argument, Gov. Bentley left the residence in his pickup truck and drove toward the couple’s beach house in Ft. Morgan, Alabama. According to the sources, this happened on multiple occasions.
When the governor arrived at his beach house, he realized that in his rush to leave, he had forgotten his wallet.
At that point, he ordered the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) to deliver it to him, which it did via helicopter.
The sources each said that current ALEA head Stan Stabler was involved in facilitating the delivery.
Stabler concedes that an ALEA helicopter did deliver the wallet at his request, but insists it was all done in accordance with Alabama law.
“The Dignitary Protection Unit of ALEA does what is necessary to protect and safeguard its protectees and provide assistance to ensure protectees are fully prepared to perform their duties as constitutional officers,” he said. “Often, items are relayed to protectees – whether it be files, a briefcase, medicine, etc. During December 2014, I received notification from Governor Bentley that he traveled to his home in Fort Morgan and inadvertently left his wallet in Tuscaloosa. As customary with a request made by a protectee, I contacted my chain of command and ultimately received approval from former Secretary Spencer Collier, to utilize ALEA’s aviation unit to pick-up and deliver the wallet. I want to be clear, Governor Bentley did not request a specific method be used to relay his wallet from Tuscaloosa to Fort Morgan – the decision to utilize department equipment to facilitate the request was made through ALEA’s chain of command, using standard agency protocol.”
Stabler succeeded Collier as head of ALEA after Bentley fired Collier, his longtime friend, last month.
Collier told Yellowhammer Wednesday afternoon that Stabler’s statement is riddled with inaccuracies.
During my tenure as Secretary of ALEA, I was notified on multiple occasions that Governor Bentley hurriedly left his residence in Tuscaloosa without security. On one occasion, Governor Bentley’s whereabouts were unknown for several hours. On another occasion, Protective Services Chief Stan Stabler contacted me and stated that “We have lost the Governor.” Later I was informed that Troopers or Special Agents with the Protective Services Unit located the Governor and escorted him to his private beach house on Ft. Morgan Road.
I was never informed about the wallet and did not approve the use of ALEA Aviation to retrieve it. The Chief of Protective Services was given the authority by Governor Bentley to utilize aviation on behalf of the Governor without going up the chain of command to me and the Chief did so routinely.
These type incidents and similar conduct by the Governor made the job of the hardworking men and women of ALEA Protective Services very difficult and often put them in awkward positions.
Yellowhammer will continue to update this story as it develops.
