Judge orders Wilcox sheriff to resign, sets bond at $25,000

A federal judge set a $25,000 bond for Wilcox County Sheriff Stacy Bloodsworth on Tuesday and ordered that the sheriff must resign from office immediately.

Bloodsworth appeared in federal court Tuesday in Macon, said U.S. Attorney Michael Moore.

The sheriff was indicted along with his son, a jailer and a county jail inmate last week. Bloodsworth is accused of violating inmates’ civil rights by assaulting them and conspiring with Austin Bloodsworth, Casey Owens and Willie James Caruthers to lie about how the inmates became injured.

While on bond, the sheriff will be monitored electronically, have a curfew and undergo testing for alcohol and drug use. He can’t have access to guns, Moore said.

As a condition of his bond, the sheriff also must agree not to run for election while the criminal charges against him are pending, Moore said.

A $25,000 bond also was set for Austin Bloodsworth, who is a sheriff’s office employee, and for Caruthers, who was a jail inmate at the time of the alleged assaults.

Jailer Casey Owens did not appear in court Tuesday. It wasn’t clear whether he has been taken into custody.

For more on this story, return to macon.com and read Wednesday’s Telegraph.

This story was originally published February 21, 2012 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Judge orders Wilcox sheriff to resign, sets bond at $25,000."