 The once-popular former mayor of Prestonsburg is back in the spotlight tonight, this time as a defendant in a federal criminal action. Sixty-year-old Jerry Fanon often made headlines while in office. In 2007, he was recognized for saving a drowning victim at Dewey Lake. And years later, he occasionally played semi-pro football. In 2014, he was defeated in re-election bid by former city councilman and state trooper Les Stapleton. A year later, a state audit of the city accused Fanon of misusing over $100,000 in city funds. Today, Fanon is accused of theft from the city he once led, for the benefit of the football team for which he played. Fanon was indicted in U.S. District Court this morning on a single count of theft from an agency receiving federal funds. The charges come at a time when Fanon has been in declining health for over a year. A situation his former attorney says leaves him unable to respond to the allegations. Jerry recently had two severe strokes and had some physical and cognitive issues from those strokes and is currently undergoing therapy. Right now, he's really not in a position that he can assist an attorney or anyone else in dealing with the allegations. And hopefully, when and if he's able to do so, that he would defend and deny these charges, what we're in the process of doing is providing the medical documentation to the U.S. Attorney's Office so that they will know what his condition is. The indictment accuses Fanon of diverting city money and property to the East Kentucky drillers in 2013. The allegations include that Fanon gave money from the city to the team and he used city funds to rent cabins at Geniwale State Resort Park to serve as housing for those players. He is also accused of ordering the two vans owned by the Prestonsburg Senior Citizen Center to transport the drillers to a game in Michigan driven by city employees. Current Mayor Les Stapleton says the city cooperated with the investigation and is now ready to move forward. Some counselor in the former administration knows the indiscretions and will try to get something to investigate at that time. Under my administration, we did have an audit done by the state auditor. It was turned over to investigators. It's the end of the city's involvement other than producing information that they need and the indictment came out today. It's my responsibility to see that our taxes are spent correctly and I say ours because I buy stuff too. I think I pay for taxes, you know, and I don't want to see mine wasted. I'm sure they don't want to see theirs wasted and that's the way the entire administration including our department heads are focusing right now. The total amount of money allegedly expended by the city for the drillers was $7,800. If convicted, Fannin could face a maximum 10 years in prison and be ordered to pay a $250,000 in fines and restitution to the city.