At a recent meeting in August, the Alabama Ethics Commission found cause to hold that Kevin Naman, a Mobile Police Department officer, committed at least one minor violation of the Alabama Ethics Act.
Doug Roberts said in an interview with 1819 News on Sunday he filed a complaint about a year ago after Naman, a Mobile Police detective and co-owner of an electronic monitoring company called Pegasus, showed up at his residence to check on an ankle monitor that had lost power overnight.
"I basically woke up one day to Mr. Naman at my front door. I knew him because he was the guy who would collect the money every month," Roberts said. "You'd have to call him every month, and he would either take a credit card or a Cash App or Venmo or PayPal … however you wanted to pay him, he would take the money. He was at my door in a police SUV and was making sure that I was still there and seeing why I didn't charge. I told him, 'I did charge. I charged all night' He said, 'Bring me the charger.' I brought him the charger, and we plugged it in on the front porch to an outlet, and it wouldn't charge. He went back to his Mobile Police Department SUV and got a replacement charger and plugged the replacement charger in and all of a sudden it started charging. That was about it, and maybe an hour later he called me on the phone and said that I needed to pay I think $100 or something for a replacement charger, which I had to do."
Roberts said his ethics complaint against Naman focused on allegedly using publicly owned equipment or time for private gain and having an alleged conflict of interest. Roberts was required to use an ankle monitor due to a burglary arrest.
"This was a very good scheme that this guy had going. Arrest somebody, and then the judge will order someone on an ankle monitor, and they have to show up at your office and pay you $400 a month, the guy you just arrested. That's a pretty elaborate scheme that they had," Roberts said. "I think I was talking to my lawyer about it and I wasn't sure whether because obviously it was the Mobile Police Department that arrested me. My ex filed a report with the Mobile Police Department. They're the ones who came to arrest me, put me in jail…that sort of thing. I wasn't sure whether I'm paying the Mobile Police Department. Is this a Mobile Police Department thing that I'm being on? Everything I'd looked at was this is an independent company called Pegasus, but here's these Mobile Police officers coming here. The lawyer was like, 'No, it's co-owned. One is a bail bondsman and one is a Mobile Police Officer who is a narcotics detective.'"
According to a letter from the Alabama Ethics Commission shared with 1819 News, Naman has requested the case be resolved administratively, which the commission accepted. The Commission has referred the case to the District Attorney of the 13th Judicial Circuit for review. If the District Attorney approves the request, the case will be returned to the Commission for imposition of an administrative penalty and/or restitution, if applicable.
A Mobile Police Department spokeswoman told 1819 News on Friday, "The Mobile Police Department has been made aware of the ongoing investigation being conducted by the State of Alabama Ethics Commission. We are conducting an internal investigation to ensure compliance with our policies and working closely with the District Attorney's office to determine if there were any violations of the Alabama Ethics Act."
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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