A former north Alabama district attorney convicted of civil rights violations more than 15 years ago for sexually fondling male defendants, is currently facing misdemeanor charges after authorities claim he shoplifted from Wal-Mart.

John Pilati allegedly swiped items worth $500 or less from the Wal-Mart store in Russellville, leading to his arrest on Tuesday afternoon on shoplifting charges, police told WAFF.  Pilati was convicted in 2007 and was sentenced in 2008 to 42 months in prison for five civil rights violations that stemmed from his fondling defendants after making them strip for searches or to take urine tests years earlier.

The victims were between the ages of 17 and 20.

Pilati was pardoned in 2010, and also 2015 – however, the state Bureau of Pardons and Paroles reversed those decisions, which meant the former district attorney was put back on the state’s sex offender registry.

(WAFF)