A Gadsden woman is charged with helping a woman walk out of the Hale County Jail last month using a forged court order that bore a circuit judge’s name, in a case that has drawn wide news coverage across the state.
Debra Alexander Nichols, 70, of Gadsden, is charged with first-degree permitting or aiding an escape, a Class C felony, according to records filed in Hale County District Court. She was arrested June 11 and, as of June 15, court records listed her status as jailed, with bond set at $15,000. A preliminary hearing is set for July 13.
According to the Hale County Sheriff’s Office, Ellory Kate Johnson, 32, of Moundville, had been held in the Hale County Jail until May 11, when Nichols, whom investigators described as Johnson’s supposed mother, presented corrections officers with a forged court order stating that Johnson could be released. The sheriff’s office said Nichols “actively helped facilitate Johnson’s escape.“
The forged document carried a circuit judge’s name and falsely stated that the charges against Johnson had been expunged, according to published reports. Johnson, who also goes by the names Kate Nichols and Kate Strickland, was released and remained at large for about a month before both women were taken into custody in Gadsden on June 11.
According to the Hale County complaint, Johnson had been jailed in connection with felonies including practicing medicine without a license, attempted distribution of a controlled substance, first-degree theft of property, and identity theft.
Those charges trace in part to a 2023 Tuscaloosa County case in which Johnson admitted representing herself as a physician at a Tuscaloosa clinic despite not holding a medical license, according to published reports. She pleaded guilty in that case to charges that also included identity theft and first-degree theft.
Following the escape, Johnson was indicted in Tuscaloosa County on new charges connected to the forged documents, and a circuit judge there ordered that she be held without bond, according to published reports.
The Hale County Sheriff’s Office has said it will review all contact Johnson had with family, friends, and jail staff during her time in custody.
