PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Former Prestonsburg Mayor Jerry Fannin was arrested Monday on felony theft and burglary charges.
The 65-year-old Fannin is accused of entering a woman’s garage and leaving with several items, including a string trimmer and a bow. The items are said to be valued at more than $1,000.
He also faces a misdemeanor harassment charge in a separate case, after being accused of continually contacting a man with no purpose other than to harass and annoy him.
Fannin served as Prestonsburg’s mayor until 2014, when he was defeated by current Mayor Les Stapleton.
In 2018, he entered an Alford plea to a federal charge of diverting city money and services to the East Kentucky Drillers football franchise while he was mayor. An Alford plea functions as a guilty plea and is a concession that the government has enough evidence to obtain a conviction, while still not admitting guilt.
In court, Fannin did not deny the charge, but said he could not remember committing a crime, due to the lingering effects of two strokes he suffered in 2016.
Fannin is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 1 for arraignment on the new charges.
