Chris Blair, the former Marion County Sheriff who was indicted by a grand jury amid an excessive force investigation, resigned from the Office of the Sheriff as part of a plea deal to defer prosecution Friday.

  • Chris Blair won't run for Office of Sheriff as part of plea deal
  • Blair was indicted on perjury, official misconduct in May
  • Marion Sheriff's Office was under investigation for excessive force

Blair's plea agreement also stipulates he'll withdraw from the 2016 election, pay $1,000 cost of prosecution at the time of the acceptance of the deal and will never run for the Office of Sheriff in any county of the Fifth Judicial Circuit.

Blair faced two counts of perjury in an official proceeding and one count of official misconduct. All three had maximum sentences of five years plus $5,000 fines.

Blair was arrested and indicted on the charges in late May. The Sheriff's Office had been under investigation into excessive use of force in the 2014 arrest of Dustin Heathman.

Deputies had testified that wounds to Heathman's face were from glass fragments after he'd opened fire on a Sheriff's vehicle. Under oath, Blair testified he didn't see the injuries to Heathman's face and only saw the back of his head when he was led out of a patrol car. But a video showed that Heathman walked in front of Blair when he got out of the patrol car, and Blair saw his face.

The past three and a half years have been very difficult for many in this community and for most of the employees at the Sheriff’s Office," acting Sheriff Emery Gainey said in a statement.

The plea deal "allows this community to put this painful episode behind us and move forward both as an agency and community," Gainey said.