Marengo County Commissioner Freddie Armstead Sr., and his son, Freddie Lee Armstead Jr. were arrested Monday, April 1 on five counts of first-degree theft of property.

Charges stem from vehicles taken from the Marengo County Sheriff’s Office impound lot. Armstead and his son took these vehicles and sold them to a recycle center outside the county, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.

After a lengthy investigation by the Sheriff’s Department, both subjects were arrested and had bond set at $5,000 on each count, totaling $25,000.

Marengo County Sheriff Richard Bates said the department has been investigating this since 2011.

“We had the FBI involved, and had also written a letter to the attorney general, but decided to go ahead with it ourselves,” Bates said. “We are still investigating other people that might have been involved.”

Bates added that the vehicles that were stolen had been confiscated by the department because they had been used in the sale of drugs.

“You don’t just go sell cars that don’t belong to you,” he said.

Circuit Clerk Kenny Freeman said their bail had been met Monday evening.