FAA probes crash that killed former judge

By Staff
Tracy B. Cieniewicz, Hartselle Enquirer
A former Morgan County circuit judge was found dead Monday morning in a downed aircraft near Hartselle's airport.
Thomas B. Coggin, 66, of Cullman was the pilot of a small engine plane, classified as an experimental aircraft, that was found upside down in a field at the end of Celestial Drive in Hartselle adjacent to Rountree Field Airport. A resident spotted the plane on his way to work and called 911 at approximately 8 a.m.
"The airplane was reported leaving Cullman Airport between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m.," Lt. Justin Barley said. "It crashed in Hartselle sometime between then and 8 a.m. The FAA has taken over the investigation of the airplane and Coggins' body was taken to the forensics lab in Huntsville where an autopsy will be performed, which might lend to medical causes for the crash."
Coggin was arrested in 1981 and charged with possession of marijuana and concealing a firearm after landing his plane at Florida's St. Lucie County Airport. Authorities spotted Coggins' low-flying aircraft and alerted U.S. Customs agents.
Agents reported finding 98 pounds of marijuana on the plane, a pistol in one of Coggins' boots and an undisclosed amount of cash in the other.
Coggins was later arrested in Morgan County following an investigation by the Alabama Bureau of Investigations of his seven years on the bench. He faced various charges for mishandling public records related to a 1979 drug case he presided over.
He was sentenced to three years in jail for the drug trafficking conviction. He served 17 months in a Florida prison.