Former Alabama officer pleads guilty to insurance fraud
July 24, 2018
By Associated Press
PRATTVILLE, Ala. —
A former police officer in Alabama has pleaded guilty to fraud and theft charges.
Local media reports that 51-year-old Leon Todd Townson of Prattville pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in one case and burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in an unrelated case.
Circuit Judge Ben Fuller has scheduled Townson's sentencing for August 13.
The charges carry penalties ranging from two to 20 years in prison.
The burglary charge carries a penalty ranging from one year to 10 years. Townson was a lieutenant with the Prattville Police Department before he resigned in 2005.
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PRATTVILLE, AL — A former high-ranking member of the Prattville Police Department has pleaded guilty to fraud and theft charges.
Leon Todd Townson, 51, of Prattville, pleaded guilty to insurance fraud in one case and conspiracy to commit burglary and burglary in an unrelated case. Circuit Judge Ben Fuller has set sentencing for Aug. 13. Townson appeared before Fuller dressed in blaze orange jail garb and restrained in handcuffs.
He entered what is know as a “blind plea” since the prosecution did not recommend a sentence.
The insurance fraud and conspiracy charges are both Class B felonies with a punishment range of two to 20 years in prison. The burglary charge is a Class C felony with a punishment range of a year and a day to 10 years in prison.
The other charges Townson faced were dismissed as part of the plea negotiations.
Townson had reached the rank of lieutenant before resigning from the force in 2005.
Townson was indicted in a 2015 incident where they were charged with breaking into a home in the 1100 block of Honeysuckle Drive. He faced burglary, theft of property, possession of burglar tools, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit indictments in that case, court records reveal.
In another unrelated case, in March of 2017, Townson was indicted with defrauding Travelers Insurance by filing false information on an insurance claim that allowed him to obtain more than $100,000 from the company, courthouse records show. The indictment reads that property that he had reported stolen from his business was later recovered from his home after a search warrant was served, records show.
Also in 2017, Townson was arrested on a truancy charged for allegedly not making his children attend school, court records show. He told authorities he was home schooling the children, but court records showed he had not filed the proper paperwork with the Autauga County Board of education showing he was home schooling the children.
In March, he was arrested again for obstructing governmental operations, court records show. He refused to allow a Department of Human Resources case worker toinspect the family home, records show. Townson allegedly became combative with the case worker. He has remained in jail since the March arrest. Fuller revoked the Townson’s bonds in the theft and fraud cases after the March arrest.
Townson resigned from the force in 2005 before pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge of misappropriation of property, courthouse records show. At the time of his resignation, Townson was second shift supervisor and had headed the department’s drug unit. While on the force, he took an AR-15 rifle that had been seized in a narcotics case from the drug unit’s evidence locker, courthouse records show. Townson used the rifle, then used its receiver to build a more accurate rifle. He then tried to sell the rifle in a Montgomery gun shop, records reflect. When questions about the ownership of the rifle came up, he retrieved the rifle from the gun shop and destroyed it, records show.
Townson's co-defendant in the burglary case is also another former high-ranking member of the PPD.
John Wayne McDaniel, 49, of the 400 block of Bedford Terrace, pleaded guilty in October to impersonating a police officer and theft of property in one case in an unrelated case, and burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in the case where he is a co-defendant with Townson, courthouse records show.
McDaniel (Photo: Booking)
Both men had reached the rank of lieutenant before resigning from the force. McDaniel had more than 20 years on the force before resigning in 2013 before he was arrested on theft of property, extortion, impersonating a police officer and possession of a controlled substance charges, records show. McDaniel pleaded guilty to stealing the sleep aid Ambien from a local pharmacy, and impersonating a police officer, the records show.
In the unrelated case, McDaniel and Townson were indicted in a 2015 incident where they were charged with breaking into a home in the 1100 block of Honeysuckle Drive. Both men were indicted on burglary, theft of property, possession of burglar tools, conspiracy to commit robbery and conspiracy to commit burglary, records show. McDaniel pleaded guilty to burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in that case, record show.
McDaniel is also set to be sentenced by Fuller on Aug 13, court records show.
The cases are being prosecuted by the Alabama Attorney General's Office. District Attorney Randall Houston. requested the AG's involvement, since Townson was a former police officer in his district.