Criminal Justice

Former US attorney charged with aggravated stalking of ex-girlfriend

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A former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia has been charged with aggravated stalking in the state for an alleged campaign of harassment and stalking against a former girlfriend after their April 2016 breakup.

Richard S. Thompson was released on $10,000 bond on Monday after he agreed to treatment at a Florida psychiatric hospital and participation in a family violence prevention program, report the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Daily Report (sub. req.). He also agreed to have no contact with the former girlfriend or her lawyer. He had spent a week in jail before his release.

Donna Crossland, the lawyer for the alleged victim, told the Journal-Constitution that Thompson had violated three protective orders, leading her client to seek a stalking warrant. Court papers in the case included emails from Thompson to Crossland threatening legal action and hinting at newspaper and criminal investigations, according to the Daily Report.

On Tuesday, Thompson resigned from his Georgia law firm, Levy, Thompson, Sibley & Hand.

Thompson had resigned as U.S. Attorney in 2004 after a Justice Department investigation concluded he had used his position to help a political ally in an election. The findings stem from Thompson’s announcement of a criminal investigation of the ally’s election opponent.

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