ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Attorney General Doug Gansler says Delegate Tiffany Alston was removed from office last month when she was sentenced for misconduct and waived her rights to appeal in a plea agreement. Gansler issued a legal opinion on the matter Tuesday.

Continue reading

The opinion supports an earlier opinion to the Legislature that Alston was removed from office Oct. 9 after sentencing relating to paying an employee in her private law firm $800 in state money.

Alston, D-Prince George's, has maintained through her attorneys that because her conviction has been modified to probation before judgment, she should be able to resume the duties of her office.

However, Gansler writes that the judge's decision to revise the sentence does not amount to a determination that the conviction was wrongly imposed.