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Cotton Valley, LA (KTBS) — The allegations keep coming against the mayor of the small Webster Parish town of Cotton Valley.
Mayor Joseph Alexander was arrested earlier this year for using town funds for personal use, but now the Webster Parish district attorney has brought more charges as part of an ongoing abuse-of-power investigation.
Alexander is in his first term as mayor of Cotton Valley. His predecessor was convicted of using town funds for personal reasons.
Webster prosecutors say Alexander used his office to avoid legal ramifications that most people would have been subjected to. In May, he was charged with misuse of town money — allegations he denies. And he’s sticking with that story as the charges mount.
“He threw his weight around as the mayor of Cotton Valley and convinced the chief of police of Cullen that he didn’t need to move forward with any charges,” Assistant District Attorney Hugo Holland said about the night he says Alexander skated on drug charges in Cullen.
“The police officer who arrested him and seized the marijuana flushed it down the toilet and the DA’s office was never made aware of any charges,” Holland said.
It happened in February 2017. Alexander was at a park after hours when an officer pulled up. The officer noticed him put something under the car seat. Holland says police found marijuana and Alexander played the power card.
“The chief of Cullen, by ordering her officer to not move forward with the charges, was not improper. What was improper, was the mayor, as the mayor, throwing his weight around to get the chief of police to have the officer get rid of the charges and get rid of the evidence,” Holland said.
The chief has the discretion whether to make an arrest or not on small amounts of marijuana. Alexander’s lawyer, Allan Golden, says that was the chief’s decision, not mayor Alexander’s.
“The mayor has never used his office for personal gain,” said Golden.
Holland believes otherwise.
“From my perspective, he’s a criminal, not a very good mayor,” Holland said.
Holland said the charges would not have been brought forward unless he was confident in the evidence.
“The State Police investigated him and we ended up charging him with three felony offenses. That generally doesn’t happen to somebody unless there’s a lot of good information that they actually committed some crimes,” he added.
But Golden said, “The state, in order to prove my client guilty, would have to prove my client compelled or coerced another to do something improper. But the only thing he ever compelled another person to do, is to do their job and do it well.”
Back in May, Alexander denied using town funds to purchase a replacement battery for his personal vehicle and for using town funds to take a personal trip to Atlanta.
Alexander told police he used a town credit card to buy the battery because he didn’t have his regular wallet with him but told the town clerk to take the money directly out of his paycheck.
Golden says the only thing Alexander is guilty of is trying to improve the town.
“He’s procured grants to repair the sewage and to improve the roads of the city,” Golden said.
Alexander has pleaded not guilty and said there is “no truth” to any of the accusations. The charges against the mayor are felonies, and if convicted he’d have to resign from office. Alexander has rejected an offer to plead guilty to a misdemeanor and resign.
Meanwhile, State Police have reopened the investigation after getting more information about goings-on at town hall. Holland will not discuss what that involves, but says the mayor’s trial has been pushed back to early next year.
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