OPELIKA, Ala. (AP) -- The attorney general's office has secured a guilty plea an investigation of two-year college corruption.
Attorney General Luther Strange said Jimmie Clements pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lee County to one count of theft of property. He received a 15-year suspended sentence with five years of probation. He must also pay $256,000 in restitution. A theft charge against his wife was dropped.
The 76-year-old Clements was president of DC & Associates and was close to former two-year college Chancellor Roy Johnson. Prosecutors said DC & Associates was designated as the exclusive agent for Southern Union State Community College regarding business and industry. He leased the school's industry training center to Michelin and Centec and kept the payments rather than giving them to the state. The payments totaled more than $256,000.