Former Alabaster police chief, son charged
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 2, 2002
Former Alabaster police chief Larry Richard Rollan and his son were arrested recently for worker’s compensation fraud.
Attorney General Bill Pryor announced the arrests of Rollan
and his son on July 1.
Rollan, 50, and his son, David Paul Rollan, 23, both surrendered on June 28 to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department and were released on bond. The Rollans are being represented by attorney Mickey Johnson of the law firm, Johnson & Bass PC in Pelham.
Count one of the indictment against Larry Rollan charges that he used his position as police chief for illegal personal gain of a check from the Municipal Worker’s Compensation Fund to his son, David Rollan.
Count two charges that the former chief falsely stated that his son was injured at a police department training facility while training for the police academy, in order to obtain worker’s compensation benefits.
David Rollan is charged with assisting his father in using his office as police chief for illegal personal gain and with making false representations about an injury to receive worker’s compensation benefits.
Rollan was chief of police in Alabaster for 18 years and resigned on April 12, 2001.
David Rollan was employed as a Alabaster dispatcher and then officer-in-training from 1997 until he resigned the same day as his father.
According to Pryor, no further information about the investigation or about the alleged crimes other than that stated in the indictment may be released at this time.
Johnson dismissed the charge.
&uot;I think it is an ill-conceived prosecution. What this case will demonstrate is the extent politicians have come to use the judicial system as a platform. I find that an irresponsible thing to do.&uot;
If convicted, both defendants face a maximum penalty of two to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 for the alleged ethics violation, a class B felony, and one to 10 years imprisonment and fine of up to $5,000 for the charge of making a false statement to receive worker’s compensation, a class C felony.
Pryor commended Assistant Attorney General Nancy Kirby of the Attorney General’s Public Corruption and White Collar Crime Division,
and Assistant Attorney General Michael Meyer of the Department of Industrial Relations’ Investigations Division, for their outstanding work in preparing and presenting the matter to the grand jury.
It was noted by Pryor that an indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty