On Friday, a Montgomery County jury found former Alabama state Representative Will Dismukes guilty of first-degree theft of property charges.
The jury found former Rep. Dismukes guilty of stealing from his former employer, Weiss Commercial Flooring. Dismukes was also found guilty of two aggravating factors, which could lead the first-time offender to spend time in prison when sentenced.
“I am very pleased with the jury’s conviction in this case,” Montgomery DA Daryl Bailey told reporters. Dismukes thievery cost a local business thousands of dollars in stolen revenue. This is the first time in history that a Montgomery jury has found an aggravator in a theft case. Because of this, my office will be seeking significant prison time for Mr. Dismukes,” Bailey said.
Dismukes, a Republican, represented Elmore and Autauga Counties in the Alabama House of Representatives from 2018 to 2022.
Dismukes lost his bid for re-election in the 2022 Republican primary to Jerry Starnes.
Dismukes broke away from Wiess Commercial Flooring and started his own flooring business. The accusations against Dismukes were leveled by his former employers.
Dismukes was indicted by a Montgomery grand jury in June 2021.
Dismukes was a pastor of a Prattville Church but resigned after he was criticized for attending a birthday celebration in Selma for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forest while former Congressman John Lewis’s (D-Selma) body was lying-in-state in his native Selma. Forest, who became wealthy as a slave trader, headed the Ku Klux Klan following the Civil War. Dismukes was the Chaplain for his local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter. Dismukes, although one of the youngest members of the Legislature at the time, once collapsed on the floor of the House during his tenure in the body.
Dismukes was a 2020 Republican candidate for Congress in Alabama’s Second Congressional District but dropped out of the race and endorsed Jessica Taylor. He also endorsed John Merrill for U.S. Senate. Merrill dropped out of the Senate race when Jeff Sessions entered the 2020 GOP primary field, while Taylor finished third in the GOP primary for Congress.
Prosecutors claimed that Dismukes stole thousands of dollars in building materials and tools from Weiss and cashed checks that should have gone to his then-employer.
Dismukes testified in his own defense in his trial saying that he did not steal but rather said that he “double-dipped.”
Montgomery Judge Brooke Reid will hold a sentencing hearing for Dismukes on May 4th, 2023.
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