A former Limestone County judge pleaded guilty Friday to all counts of the indictment against him in an agreement with the Alabama attorney general’s office.

Court records show Douglas Patterson agreed to plead guilty to intentional use of official position or office for personal gain, first-degree financial exploitation of the elderly and third-degree theft of property. He further agreed to pay $72,822.77 in restitution, to be split among the Limestone County Juvenile Court Services Fund, the family of a victim and the estate of a victim.

In the agreement, a timeline of Patterson’s crimes was also provided, detailing the “factual basis for this guilty plea.” The timeline starts in March 2010, when Patterson was court-appointed to serve as the conservator for Charles Lee Hardy, “an incapacitated, elderly war veteran living in a nursing home,” according to the agreement.

“As Hardy’s conservator, Patterson was responsible for managing his financial affairs, including paying necessary bills and maintaining assets,” the document reads. “Patterson violated Hardy’s trust, along with the Alabama’s Rules of Professional Conduct and the State Criminal Code, by stealing $47,800 from Hardy between June 2013 and December 2015.”

He also failed to provide required records of Hardy’s funding, “which would have revealed that Patterson was writing checks to himself for hundreds and thousands of dollars at a time,” according to the agreement. After Hardy died in December 2014, records show Patterson claimed the conservatorship account had more than $40,000 in it, when it only had about $200. Patterson then avoided attempts to turn over the funds before getting a loan “from a third party under false pretenses” and paying back $22,586.47 in June 2017.

As of Friday, he had not paid back the remaining $25,213.53.

While serving as a juvenile court judge in Limestone County, Patterson controlled a bank account for the Limestone County Juvenile Court Services Fund. According to the agreement signed by Patterson, “legitimate expenditures from the juvenile account included refreshments at juvenile-related meetings, training for employees, computers for juvenile-court personnel and other items desperately needed to help the children in the juvenile court system.”

Records show the account balance was about $35,000 when Patterson took over, and 32 days after becoming the juvenile court judge, he used his position to write a check for $7,500 “for the purchase of office furniture.”

“That was not true,” the agreement reads. “Patterson did not purchase office furniture with the money; he kept it for himself. Over the next three years and three months, Patterson wrote another 69 checks to himself.”

In all, he took $48,977.59 from the fund, and when asked to produce records justifying the 70 checks, the agreement says he proved less than $2,000 was for legitimate purposes.

“In total, then, Patterson used his official position to take $47,008.24 without lawful authority,” the agreement reads. “He has not reimbursed a single penny.”

Finally, in December 2019, Patterson made two withdrawals from the conservatorship account for Rudolph Allen, according to the agreement. The total was $601, and “Patterson did not use the money on behalf of Mr. Allen or his estate; he stole it,” the agreement reads.

“Patterson’s actions as an attorney and as a judge tarnished and debased the judicial system,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said. “His conviction sends a clear message that public officials who abuse their position, harm vulnerable parties and flagrantly disregard Alabama law will be held accountable for their crimes.”

Records show the prosecution and defense did not agree to a recommended sentence, but Patterson agreed to serve “whatever sentence the Court may order” and waived his right to appeal. The use of office for personal gain and financial exploitation charges are Class B felonies, and the theft charge is a Class D felony.

Patterson continued to receive his judicial salary until July 2020. He was placed on leave following an indictment in December 2019 and suspended from practicing law effective Aug. 12.

He faces up to 20 years in state prison and a fine of up to $30,000 per Class B felony and up to five years in state prison with a fine of up to $7,500 for the Class D felony. Judge Steven Haddock has set sentencing for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 8.