Ex-Tallassee police officer indicted;

www.al.com
BYLINE: Kelsey Stein |

Tallassee, AL

already accused of stealing gun, coercing confession

A former Tallassee assistant police chief – already facing charges of breaking into a business, stealing a gun from an evidence locker and coercing confessions in a child sex abuse case – is now charged in a federal indictment.

An indictment filed last week in the Middle District of Alabama charges Chris Miles with deprivation of rights, claiming he assaulted an inmate at the Tallassee Jail in 2013; two counts of obstruction of justice, claiming he made false statements to an FBI agent about the alleged assault; and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

A consent plea hearing is set for 2 p.m. Nov. 17 before Judge Charles S. Coody, court records show.

Miles left the Tallassee Police Department in October 2013 after he was arrested on theft and burglary charges in Macon County.

In November 2013, he surrendered to authorities in Elmore County, where he was charged with second-degree theft for taking a gun out of a police evidence locker. That case is still pending in state court.

Elmore County prosecutors also said that more than 100 charges in a child abuse case had to be dropped after questions arose about how Miles got a confession from the suspect, Stephen Conrad.

The State Bureau of Investigation launched a new investigation into the case and later brought new charges against Conrad. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison after pleading guilty to several charges, WSFA reported.

At the time, Miles' defense attorneys said he had not coerced anyone in the case.

In the federal indictment filed last week, Conrad claims Miles hit him with a ream of copy paper after he was arrested.

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International Association for Property and Evidence
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