( KTRS ) A fired Pine Lawn police lieutenant has been convicted of conspiring to falsely arrest a mayoral candidate.
The U.S. attorney’s office says in a news release that 35-year-old Steven Blakeney has been found guilty of three criminal civil rights charges.
Prosecutors say the false arrest happened in March 2013. Witnesses testified during his trial that he ordered another person to falsely report that the mayoral candidate had stolen a campaign poster from a business and arranged for the candidate to be arrested.
The candidate wasn’t named in the release. But during the April 2015 corruption trial of former Pine Lawn Mayor Sylvester Caldwell, a witness testified that he helped frame Nakisha Ford, who was running against Caldwell.