In the agency's first statement since the arrest of a former Mobile County judge, The FBI is asking anyone with information about Herman Thomas' possible violations of the federal "color of law" statute to come forward.
News Five first reported the FBI's involvement in the case Monday on WKRG.com.
Joseph F. Fierro, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Mobile Division of the FBI, says the federal agency has spent the past year and a half investigating allegations that Thomas misused his position as a judge in order to violate the rights of several individuals.
According to a press release issued Monday evening, it is a federal crime for a person acting under "color of law" to willfully deprive another person of any rights protected by the Constitution,
Thomas, who is accused of paddling inmates from Mobile Metro Jail and forcing them to perform sexual acts, was arrested Friday and charged with 57 counts of kidnapping, sodomy, sexual abuse, extortion and ethics violations.
During a press conference Friday, Thomas' attorney, "Cowboy" Bob Clark, called the investigation racist claiming it is a "high tech lynching".
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