A former sheriff’s deputy in Winston County, Alabama, near Birmingham, recently pleaded guilty to a heinous crime. According to court records, former deputy, Grady Keith Concord, forced a single mother to cook him methamphetamine on a regular basis to feed his drug habit. To make matters worse he would also make her cook meth in front of her children.
For nearly a year, Concord would bring pseudoephedrine to the woman’s residence and then return later for his batch of meth. When the woman was caught, she told police that Concord threatened her with arrest unless she cooperated. At first Concord denied the woman’s claim but later conceded that she might have felt that she “had no choice but to accept his offer” since he was a sheriff’s deputy.
Concord was arrested in June of this year and charged with second-degree manufacturing of methamphetamine. He was fired after his arrest and has remained in jail. His lawyer, Richard S. Jaffe has stated, “Keith deeply regrets becoming addicted to methamphetamine, and further breaking the law to obtain the substance, rather than seeking medical treatment. Keith in no way blames anyone or anything but himself for violating his oath as a law enforcement officer, and embarrassing his department and his family. His agreement to plead guilty and accept full responsibility is a positive first step toward recovery.”
Concord will face arraignment Nov. 18 on federal charges for his crimes. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine for extortion and up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine for the manufacturing of methamphetamine. In addition, he also faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $2 million fine for knowingly exposing children to a meth lab.
