Grand jury member convicted of leaking information in drug case

November 17, 2015 at 3:37 PM CST - Updated July 2 at 7:55 AM

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - A Montgomery woman has pleaded guilty to revealing confidential information while she was serving on a grand jury in a major drug case, Attorney General Luther Strange announced.

Latoya Ware pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Monday to an unclassified felony after attempting to reveal classified grand jury evidence.

Ware has since applied for a pretrial diversion program, which would allow her to enter into a suspension program and if completed would potentially bring no charges upon her or if charged the charges would be dismissed. However the state is opposing the pretrial diversion.

Ware faces a potential sentence of three years and a $3,000 fine.

“This conviction is important because it is vital that the integrity of the grand jury process be preserved,” Strange said. “These proceedings are preliminary to a prosecution, and are confidential by law for the protection of witnesses, law enforcement and even the suspects in a case. Abuse of the grand jury secrecy act must not be tolerated.”

In August, Ware sat as a grand jury member for a trial involving a drug bust that resulted in more than 20 arrests. During a break, she was observed and questioned by a fellow grand juror about taking photographs of the physical evidence presented to the grand jury.

Ware said she deleted the photos, however when questioned by the prosecutor and investigators of the Attorney General's Office, she denied taking any photographs.

After a search of her phone, the photos were found in an internet cloud.