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Details of former Lanett Mayor Kyle McCoy’s plea deal, dated Sept. 20, were recently filed in the Circuit Court of Chambers County.

The plea agreement includes recommending that McCoy serve any time in a county jail, rather than the Alabama Department of Corrections. Additionally, it states that the state agrees not to recommend a sentence of actual incarceration longer than two years. McCoy has the right to withdraw his guilty plea if the court orders him to serve a custodial sentence in the Alabama Department of Corrections or if it orders a sentence of actual incarceration for over two years. If the court accepts the state’s recommendation, McCoy waives his right to appeal.

McCoy pled guilty to using his official position or office to allow a dependent and/or family member to access and use a 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe owned by the City of Lanett without lawful purpose. He also pled guilty to using his official position or office to obtain extensions and/or waivers of City of Lanett utility charges totaling $43,302.32.

A third ethics charge of using his position to obtain personal purchases at a total of $643.84 was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

The agreement details the counts McCoy agreed to plead guilty to.

It states that as the elected mayor of Lanett, he was a public official under Alabama’s ethics laws. During or around August or September of 2019, McCoy allowed a dependent, who was not a city employee, access to a city-owned 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe over a period of seven months, which resulted in McCoy’s personal gain — he saved the costs for a replacement vehicle, insurance, and money for fuel and maintenance.

It also states that McCoy controlled seven City of Lanett utilities accounts, and that beginning at various times between June 2017 and April 2018, he stopped making payments on the accounts. They were all past due by August 2019. At that time, McCoy asked a City of Lanett employee to put the accounts on hold, telling her that he’d be able to pay the resulting bills in full in March 2020. As a result, his accounts were not assessed minimum charges or late fees, and some of his accounts were removed from the city’s cut-off list. On Feb. 16, 2020, all seven of McCoy’s meters were read. A bill was presented to McCoy on March 11, 2020, and on that day, McCoy wrote a check to the city for $41,232.84, which brought his accounts current.

“The city’s bill did not include an additional $2,069.48 — the total amount of mandatory minimums and late charges that would have accrued had McCoy not requested that his accounts be put on hold,” says the document. “McCoy’s request to stop billing his accounts and his resulting personal gain were not otherwise permitted by law.”

The plea agreement also states that McCoy agreed to pay $14,193.45 in restitution to the City of Lanett. It allowed him to make the entire payment when he pleaded guilty or make payments under a payment plan ordered by the court. It also states that he agreed to pay fines or court costs ordered by the court.

Additionally, McCoy agreed to resign as mayor by 5 p.m. Central the day the court accepted his guilty plea.  McCoy did resign, and this week the city of Lanett named Jamie Heard its new mayor.

McCoy pleaded guilty to counts one and two of the indictment against him on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021.

Chambers County Circuit Judge Steve Perryman set a sentencing hearing for Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. McCoy faces penalties of two to 20 years imprisonment and fines of up to $30,000 for each of the two convictions, which are class B felonies.