Zeb Little.

Former Alabama Senate majority leader and Cullman native Zeb Little was indicted this week on a trio of theft charges stemming from a three-year investigation by the Cullman Police Department.

Little, 50, turned himself in to the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office following the indictment, where he was arrested on three counts of 1st degree theft of property, a Class B felony, and released on a bond of $15,000. The charges against Little, an attorney, accuse him of the theft of more than $25,000 in client trust funds.

Although Little’s case is slated to proceed through the Cullman Circuit Court jurisdiction, the Alabama Attorney General’s office, and not the local district attorney, is prosecuting the case. Little was indicted by a grand jury before the court of Circuit Judge Martha Williams.

The three-count indictment accuses Little of separate instances of intentional theft of funds, all against the estate of a single alleged victim. Each count alleges that Little “did knowingly obtain or exert unauthorized control over, or did knowingly obtain by deception control over, property” in the form of currency held by the estate.

Cullman police declined to disclose details of the ongoing investigation, but confirmed that officers had been working the case for the past three years. Police would not comment on whether additional charges against Little are possible, nor whether the investigation might yield additional suspects.

Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a press release Friday confirming its role in prosecuting the case, saying the AG’s Criminal Trials Division presented evidence to the Cullman County grand jury on February 11. The AG’s release stated that no further information about the investigation or about the defendant’s alleged crimes, other than the information contained in the indictment, will be released at this time.

While serving as Senate majority leader, Little was arrested and pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated following a traffic stop on Interstate 65 in Jefferson County. The 2009 plea resulted in Little surrendering his driver’s license and serving a year of probation.

Little, a Democrat, was the Cullman area’s representative as Alabama’s District 4 Senator for 12 years beginning in 1998. He served as the Senate majority leader from 2002 until 2010.