Former Marion County Sheriff Chris Blair is speaking out, saying he was falsely accused of two counts of perjury and one count of official misconduct.

  • Former Sheriff Chris Blair says he was falsely accused
  • Took a plea deal to get charges dropped
  • Says State Attorney's office has a personal vendetta against him

Blair, along with his wife and daughter, spoke to supporters Friday morning in front of the Marion County courthouse.

Blair was arrested and indicted in May after a grand jury said Blair lied under oath during an excessive force investigation.

A key piece of evidence was a video in which Blair testified he didn't see the suspect's face, but the video shows the suspect being led in front of Blair.

Blair says the video had nothing to do with his statement.

He said he was specifically asked if he saw the suspect while he was being treated, which Blair says he didn't. He said the video was taken an hour later.

Blair said he never got to see the video during testimony.

"I could have cleared this up and told them this is a different timeframe. He was treated at 1752. My affidavit is to that," said Blair.

Blair's charges were dropped as part of a deal that he'll withdraw from the 2016 election.

Blair also told supporters the State Attorney's Office has a personal vendetta against him.

The State Attorney's Office of the Fifth Judicial Circuit released a statement:

"Like every other person who is charged with a crime, Chris Blair had at his disposal all of the rights guaranteed to citizens in our criminal court system. Even though a millionaire according to his financial disclosure forms, and collecting an $80,000 plus pension from the State, he had a donated Criminal Defense Fund of $100,000 at his disposal. With money from the donated fund, he retained private counsel. Based on their advice to him, he chose to forego a trial on the merits where a jury of Marion County citizens would have determined his guilt or innocence. We were prepared to present the case to a jury in a trial that had been scheduled to start on September 19th. Chris Blair could have done likewise and presented his “proof” to the jury. He chose to resolve his charges rather than have a jury decide his guilt or innocence."