Alabama judge the latest arrested on meth charges

An Alabama judge was jailed on methamphetamine possession charges Tuesday in the same Mississippi town where his wife was arrested earlier this year on similar charges.

Ira D. Colvin, a district judge from Pickens County, Ala., was arrested Monday afternoon by police investigating suspects who were believed to be traveling store-to-store purchasing ingredients for the drug, said sheriff’s officer Ivan Bryan.

Officers found precursors for methamphetamine in Colvin’s vehicle along with about a gram of powdered meth and a small amount of the drug in liquefied form like it was ready to be injected, Bryan said.

“He had two needles ready to go,” said Bryan.

Also charged with possession of methamphetamine was Ashley Watkins, 36, of Gordo, Ala. She was arrested at the same time but in a separate vehicle, said Bryan.

Colvin asked for an attorney following his arrest, Bryan said, but records did not show whether he had hired a lawyer.

Colvin, 58, of Carrollton, Ala., was arrested four months after his wife, Christy Dawn Wheat Colvin, was charged with possession of methamphetamine in Columbus. Police followed her as she drove around town allegedly trying to buy the ingredients for methamphetamine.

Officials said charges against Mrs. Colvin are still pending. She was freed on bond.

The judge will remain jailed until police and court workers finish paperwork that has to be done before he is freed on bond, Bryan said.

“He’s going to be treated like everyone else,” said Bryan.

Many store workers have learned to look for people purchasing certain chemicals and over-the-counter medications that are used to make methamphetamine.

But Bryan said Columbus, located in a rural area about five miles from the Alabama line, has enough stores that meth-makers are able travel around and avoid suspicion created when they purchase too much of any one substance at a time.

“They can go to these stores and then go back to Alabama and make the stuff,” he said.

Colvin was appointed district judge in December 2002. He replaced Judge Tommy Woodard, who quit after being accused of having improper contact with females involved in cases in his court.

In May 2004, Colvin was indicted on federal bankruptcy fraud charges over allegations he hid $25,000 in assets for a client in 2001 while still working as a private attorney.

The charges were dropped after Colvin apologized. Pickens County voters gave him the Democratic nomination for district judge a few days after his indictment, and he won re-election in November 2004.