Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall cannot be sued for seizing $240,000 in a bank account belonging to the brother of Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway, a federal appeals court rules.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall cannot be sued for seizing $240,000 in a bank account belonging to the brother of Jefferson County Sheriff Mark Pettway in connection with an illegal gambling investigation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
Pettway’s brother, Bruce Pettway, is a businessman whose companies include Employer Benefits Consulting, which received a $15,500 check made out to the company and Bruce Pettway from Brighton Ventures, one of the firms that owns Super Highway Bingo in Bessemer, according to the appeals court decision, which cited financial records in the case.
A Birmingham federal court judge sided with Bruce Pettway’s harassment allegation after finding that Marshall’s move to seize the entire account was disproportionate when only $15,500 was alleged to be tied to illegal gambling and that the attorney general incorrectly insinuated that the whole account contained money from Brighton Ventures.