UPDATE: Alabama Attorney General clears fired Mobile Police Commander Kevin Levy

UPDATE (4:36 p.m.) — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has determined that Kevin Levy did not commit any crimes, according to Levy’s attorney, Chris Callahan.

Callahan said Levy is in “good faith” negotiations with the city.

Depending on how those negotiations go, Callahan said a civil lawsuit against the city could happen.

UPDATE (3:21 p.m.) — It took William Athanas 500 hours to write a 228-page report that Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood claims bears false allegations against former Mobile Police Cmdr. Kevin Levy.

Athanas, a former federal prosecutor who now works for Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Law Firm in Birmingham, was hired by the Mobile City Council to investigate, in part, any wrongdoing between the city and a Florida-based cyber company called 321z Insights.

The report found “no illegal, unethical or out-of-policy actions by any City of Mobile employee with one exception.”

That exception was Cmdr. Levy.

Blackwood received the report Monday night, a day before the report was released to the public.

Athanas pointed out that Levy potentially falsified governmental documents, a Class A Misdemeanor, according to Blackwood.

However, Blackwood said the accusation just isn’t true.

“I found that we are left with nothing but a mere accusation, and a mere accusation should not be heard by a Grand Jury without any evidence,” Blackwood said. “”At most, there could be a civil issue, and I’m not saying that there is.”

In his report, Athanas focused on a contract between 321z Insights and the city to review the Gulf Coast Technology Center’s forensic lab standards.

Athanas accused Levy of taking the signature page from the first draft of the contract and placing it on a second draft. After a few edits, the contract went from costing the city $180,000 to $92,000.

The contract was not a public record when Levy reportedly copied the signature page. Blackwood said the document was still in the drafting phase.

“It was not yet a governmental record. It was a template of a contract,” Blackwood said.  “It’s not the case that in any contract, it’s completely done before it’s entered into the governmental systems that they have over at the city. It is a process.”

Blackwood said transcripts showed that a co-owner of 321z Insights recalled signing the contract a second time before it was put to the Mobile City Council for a vote in November.

Blackwood said Athanas glossed over this detail when writing his report.

On Nov. 21, 2023, the city council voted to pass the 321z Insights contract.

“Performance was started until the city asked them to stop because of all of this political mess going on in Mobile,” Blackwood said.

Blackwood said there were gaps in Athanas’s report.

“I don’t think that the special counsel looked at all sides of the issues,” Blackwood said. “There are a lot of questions that I would have asked if I had been the one initially investigating this case, and I’ve read the transcripts of the special transcripts and I read the depositions.”

Despite Blackwood’s determination that Levy did not commit a crime, Public Safety Director Robert Lasky delivered Levy’s termination letter, signed by Mayor Sandy Stimpson, the same day the report was made public.

“I’m not in the business of throwing out accusations without evidence, so it’s not something that I would do,” Blackwood said. “Somebody’s reputation is on the line.”

In a statement, Stimpson said he disagrees with Athanas’s “conclusion that Kevin Levy violated the law with his handling of the various drafts of the 321z Insights contract.”

“The decision to terminate Kevin was not based on a lack of confidence in his abilities, but rather some of the findings of the special counsel and other underlying issues, which have compromised Kevin Levy’s ability to continue as the commander of GCTC,” Stimpson said.

Earlier this week, Levy’s attorney, Chris Callahan, shared comments about Athanas’s report.

“I want to categorically state that all these allegations are entirely false. Commander Levy did not give false testimony. He did not violate any city policy. And he did not alter any signature page of the 321z contract.

“Furthermore, Commander Levy did not tamper with governmental records.”

Previous Reporting:

UPDATE (11:30 a.m.): MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson has released a statement on the firing of Mobile Police Cmdr. Kevin Levy.

“Based on the information we have, I disagree with the Special Counsel’s conclusion that Kevin Levy violated the law with his handling of the various drafts of the 321z Insights contract,” Stimpson said in the statement.

321z Insights “never claimed during the course of these investigations that it was somehow deceived or unaware of the active discussions around the terms of the contract,” Stimpson said.

The mayor also shared his thoughts on the decision to fire Levy, former commander of the Mobile Police Department’s Gulf Coast Technology Center.

The termination was “not based on a lack of confidence in his abilities, but rather some of the findings of the special counsel and other underlying issues, which have compromised Kevin Levy’s ability to continue as the commander of GCTC,” Stimpson said.

He said he wouldn’t elaborate further on the matter because the city has a practice of avoiding discussing personnel.

“I am sincere when I say that I wish (Levy) the best going forward and pray that his faith will carry him through this trying time,” Stimpson said.

Previous Reporting:

MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. ( WKRG ) — Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood described claims against a Mobile Police Department commander in a recent investigation as “meritless.”

MPD Cmdr. Kevin Levy was fired Tuesday after an investigative report on allegations made by former MPD Chief Paul Prine became public.

According to a press release from the Mobile City Council , the report was compiled by special counsel William Athanas of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Law Firm, who officials said worked over 500 hours for eight weeks before the report was given to the city council on the afternoon of July 22.

The investigation covered four topics: 321z Insights ‘ contract with the city, the chain of command in the city, the police chief’s termination, and Prine’s written grievances, all of which except 321z Insights were said to have “no illegal, unethical or out-of-policy actions by any City of Mobile employee with one exception.”

Regarding the 321z category, Athanas said, “Commander Kevin Levy acted illegally and/or outside City of Mobile policy in connection with falsely altering or tampering with City documents and public records.”

Levy’s attorney, Chris Callahan, said, “I want to categorically state that all these allegations are entirely false. Commander Levy did not give false testimony. He did not violate any city policy. And he did not alter any signature page of the 321z contract.

“Furthermore, Commander Levy did not tamper with governmental records.”

Blackwood said at best, this could become a civil matter.

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