Mobile state senator's son pleads guilty to crack cocaine charge

AL.com, AL
7/19/06
Associated Press

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) — The 23-year-old son of state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures has pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute crack cocaine and could face 10 years to life in federal prison.

Akil Michael Figures, who was arrested in September, accepted a plea agreement Tuesday that could lower his sentence by cooperating with law enforcement in other cases. A sentencing date was not immediately set.

Figures' mother, a Mobile Democrat, did not attend the hearing.

The defendant's lawyer and uncle, Thomas Figures, would not speculate about how long the prison term may be.

"I don't think it would be in his best interest to comment on any aspect of the case," he said as he departed court.

Akil Figures was arrested in 2002 for possession of marijuana and cocaine. He pleaded guilty to the cocaine charge in 2004, and the marijuana charge was dropped, according to court records.

In May 2005, he was shot several times in north Mobile on the day he returned home from Kilby Correctional Facility.