Miss. lawmaker faces embezzlement charges

JACKSON — An indicted Mississippi lawmaker is in Tennessee on a mission trip to rehabilitate houses for poor people, and he’s expected to return home and turn himself in on an arrest warrant Friday.

Authorities revealed Tuesday that a Lee County grand jury had indicted Rep. Brian Aldridge and his parents last month on embezzlement charges.

The 36-year-old Tupelo lawmaker was founder and executive director of Touched By An Angel Ministries, a charity that closed after a lawsuit claimed money had been taken and spent improperly. The group operated a camp near Tupelo for disabled children and adults.

Aldridge’s attorney, T.K. Moffett, said Wednesday that his client never had the power to sign checks for the ministry and hasn’t improperly taken anything. “Brian has not committed a crime, and I’m shocked at this indictment,” Moffett said.

If convicted, Aldridge would have to resign the House seat he has held since 2004. The Republican represents District 17, which is entirely in northeast Mississippi’s Lee County.

Sheriff Jim Johnson told The Associated Press that his office was in touch with the lawmaker Tuesday and Wednesday. The sheriff said Aldridge has agreed to return to Lee County on an arrest warrant: “We’re looking at Friday.”

During a special legislative session last week, Aldridge told an AP reporter that his younger sister was going on a mission to Tennessee to help repair houses for poor people. Moffett confirmed Wednesday that Aldridge is on the same mission.

The lawmaker’s parents, Louis Aldridge, 64, and Janice Aldridge, 61, are divorced. The sheriff said they were arrested separately Tuesday, and each was released on $5,000 bond.

In 2012, a chancery court judge ordered Brian Aldridge to pay more than $200,000 to his aunt, whose estate was drained by his father after some of her money was funneled through Touched By An Angel Ministries. Brian Aldridge has appealed that order, asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to overturn it.

That order came in a lawsuit that the aunt, Florence Aldridge, filed against the lawmaker and his parents after she lost more than $522,000 from her estate. Louis Aldridge is Florence Aldridge’s brother-in-law, and he held power of attorney over the estate. He also was once the chief financial officer of his son’s charity.

Moffett said the lawsuit caused Touched By An Angel Ministries to close.

“He has not profited from that ministry,” Moffett said of Brian Aldridge.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office sent AP copies of the indictments of Louis Aldridge and Janice Aldridge, which showed the alleged embezzlement occurred between 2005 and 2007. The indictments became public records on Tuesday when arrest warrants were served. However, the prosecutors had redacted the name of the alleged victim.