On Tuesday, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the indictment and arrest of former Jefferson County Constable Jonathan Barbee, age 43, of Trussville, on two ethics charges and three tax charges.
Barbee was elected as the Constable of Jefferson County’s 48th District in 2016.
The Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division obtained an indictment of Barbee after conducting a joint investigation with the Alabama Department of Revenue.
The first two counts of the indictment charge Barbee with using his position or office to pay his wife and his father for traffic control, or cause them to be paid for traffic control, through the Constable Office bank account. The remaining three counts charge that Jonathan Barbee willfully attempted to evade or defeat state income taxes. Each tax evasion count covers a separate year from 2018 to 2020.
If convicted, Barbee faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment and a $30,000 fine for each of the two ethics charges. He faces a maximum penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment and a $100,000 fine for each of the three tax charges.
Barbee is a former member of the Alabama Republican Party State Executive Committee. He was a 2014 candidate for the Republican nomination for Public Service Commissioner and a 2020 GOP candidate for Jefferson County Tax Assessor. He is the producer of the Voice of Alabama syndicated political news television show. He has worked as a producer and videographer for a number of high-profile clients, including the Alabama Republican Party and the Donald Trump campaign.
According to his blog, Barbee is a native of Birmingham and the President & CEO of Media Works Communications, a TV and Film production company located in Birmingham, Los Angeles, and Nashville. He has worked with a variety of celebrities.
Barbee was instrumental in the passage of the 2009 Alabama Entertainment Bill (HB 69), which provides incentives to Alabama filmmakers.
An indictment is merely an accusation. Barbee is presumed innocent unless and until he is found guilty by a jury of his peers.
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