CULLMAN, Ala. – Jerome Anthony Flanigan, 39, of Cullman, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter in the 2016 drug-related death of Leslie Clements. Flanigan had been indicted on charges of murder by administration of a controlled substance with alternate charges of murder by strangulation or suffocation and reckless manslaughter by administration of a controlled substance, corpse abuse, arson and first-degree theft of property. Admitting to supplying the drugs that killed Clements, he pleaded to the least of the charges stemming directly from the death. All other charges were dismissed.
Flanigan was acquitted in June on the arson charge, which was tried separately from the others.
Judge Gregory Nicholas gave Flanigan a 20-year split sentence (part incarceration, part probation) with four years to be served in a state prison, with credit for time already spent in jail prior to the plea deal. Flanigan has been in the Cullman County Detention Center for over three years and will be eligible for release in less than one year. Following release, he will spend five years on supervised probation.
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