Alabama prison warden facing recent drug charges also named in missing inmate organ lawsuit

Dallas Parker
·1 min read
10

LIMESTONE COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Chadwick Crabtree, Correction Warden III at Limestone Correctional Facility, has been employed with the state prison system for over two decades. However, his future with ADOC is in question after a recent arrest on drug charges last week.

His wife, Melissa Crabtree, was also arrested and charged.

Athens man arrested after search warrant turns up drugs, guns in Limestone County

Four agencies were said to be present on the day of the Crabtrees’ arrests:
The Alabama Department of Corrections Law Enforcement Services Division, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency SWAT, and the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office.

Both were charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, unlawful possession of a controlled substance, manufacturing of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Crabtree also happens to be the prison warden named in a controversial lawsuit in which a deceased inmate’s family claims their loved one’s organs were taken during an autopsy at UAB Medical Center and kept without permission.

The lawsuit claims the daughter of the deceased inmate reached out to Crabtree through his assistant via email, asking that her father’s “internal organs be returned and not disposed of.”

Limestone Correctional Warden, wife facing drug charges

The lawsuit says the email was sent after a funeral home informed the woman that all of her father’s organs were missing and some of his bones were broken.

According to the filing, Crabtree never responded to the woman.

A separate search was executed at Crabtree’s office at Limestone Correctional Facility, and it’s unclear what that search was related to or the findings.

However, this story is developing, and additional details about the alleged crimes and investigations will likely come out in court.

Crabtree has been placed on mandatory leave without pay, pending further personnel action.

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