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Civil rights leader’s half-brother faces federal charges in Alabama

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 29, 2007, file photo, the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow of The Ordinary People Society addresses the media in front of the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., concerning a planned hate crimes rally prompted by the rape case of a young black woman in September. The Rev. Al Sharpton’s half-brother, Rev. Glasgow, has been cleared of a capital murder charge in Alabama. Court records made public Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, show a grand jury refused to indict the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow over a 2018 fatal shooting that police said was committed by a man he was driving. (AP Photo/Bob Bird, File)
Bob Bird/AP
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AP
FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 29, 2007, file photo, the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow of The Ordinary People Society addresses the media in front of the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston, W.Va., concerning a planned hate crimes rally prompted by the rape case of a young black woman in September. The Rev. Al Sharpton’s half-brother, Rev. Glasgow, has been cleared of a capital murder charge in Alabama. Court records made public Thursday, Feb. 18, 2021, show a grand jury refused to indict the Rev. Kenneth Glasgow over a 2018 fatal shooting that police said was committed by a man he was driving. (AP Photo/Bob Bird, File)

An Alabama pastor and voting rights activist pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion, mail fraud, and drug conspiracy charges. Kenneth Glasgow is the half-brother of civil rights activist and media personality Al Sharpton. Glasgow entered the plea in Montgomery federal court. The guilty plea avoided a trial that was scheduled to take place next month. He will be sentenced at a later date. Glasgow, the founder of The Ordinary People Society, is a well-known Alabama activist who has worked on the restoration of voting rights for former prisoners, prison reform and other issues.

Glasgow is the founder of The Ordinary People Society and has worked on the restoration of voting rights for former prisoners, prison reform and other issues. He has been a frequent critic of the state prison system and police in his hometown. Prosecutors said Glasgow admitted not paying income taxes on thousands of dollars he withdrew from the charities and also to claiming Social Security disability benefits by falsely claiming on mailed forms that he had trouble driving. Prosecutors said Glasgow received traffic citations between 2015 and 2020 relating to approximately twenty seven different traffic stops, all of which indicated that Glasgow was the driver. He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute. Prosecutors in 2021 charged Glasgow and another man with the drug conspiracy charge. The U.S. attorney's office said in a press release that Glasgow faces up to 20 years in prison, along with substantial fines and restitution.

Pat Duggins is news director for Alabama Public Radio.
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