By Gary Lloyd
BIRMINGHAM — Three Jefferson County Department of Revenue clerks were indicted Tuesday on ethics charges relating to allegedly taking money to let people get ahead in long tag lines at county courthouses.
Alisha Cole
photo courtesy of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Lashonda Smaw and Jozette Berry worked at the downtown Birmingham courthouse and Alisha Cole worked at the Center Point Satellite Courthouse. All three have been fired by the county. All three are out of Jefferson County Jail on bond.
Lashonda Smaw
photo courtesy of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Prosecutors are charging the three women with using their positions for personal gain. The three women have a pre-trial hearing Feb. 3 in Jefferson County Circuit Court.
According to Kent Faulk of The Birmingham News, Cole faces two counts of using her position for personal gain related to her allegedly taking $20 on Aug. 2 and another $20 on Aug. 29. According to the indictments against Smaw and Berry, the two allegedly took $40 on April 8.
Jozette Berry
photo courtesy of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
People buying car tags at county courthouses routinely wait for hours to be waited on, sometimes even having to take time off work.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
