Judge delays hearing to reconsider prison sentence imposed against Alan Moran
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge grants 30-day delay to Alan Moran's attorney to assess new case evidence
- Probation revoked in June after bribery and conspiracy indictment involving Moran
- Moran is serving a 12-year prison sentence for child exploitation.
Judge Christopher Schmidt on Thursday delayed a hearing for him to reconsider the 12-year prison sentence imposed on former Diamondhead councilman Alan Moran for violating his probation on a child exploitation conviction.
Moran’s attorney, Donald Rafferty, asked for the last-minute delay, saying he had just received “critical” information from prosecutors dealing with the timing of search warrants served in his new felony case that could help his client further.
The judge agreed to give Rafferty 30 more days to prepare. However, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Burrell said prosecutors were ready to proceed Thursday with the hearing requested by Rafferty to get the judge to reconsider the sentence he imposed in June.
Burrell also pointed out that the judge’s decision to revoke Moran’s probation on a child exploitation conviction came as a result of a new indictment charging Moran with new charges of felony conspiracy and bribery. Burrell and Assistant District Attorney Chris Daniel are serving as prosecutors in the case.
Schmidt, in June, revoked Moran’s probation on the sex crime offense because of a new indictment handed down against Moran, charging him with bribery and conspiracy in a scheme to cover up an earlier crime Moran committed.
Rafferty, in his latest arguments, called the previous revocation hearing “a complete sham” because state prosecutors did not present any witnesses to support the latest allegations against Moran.
However, prosecutors presented the evidence to a grand jury, which determined there was enough evidence to indict Moran in the case along with his father, former State Sen. Philip Moran, Jeremy Billings, of Diamondhead, and Ian Schexnayder, of Pearlington. All four have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
At the June hearing, Daniel pointed out the state is not required to try and convict Moran on the new charges before his probation on the earlier offense is revoked.
“States are not required to meet the burden of proof ... beyond a reasonable doubt” and delay a revocation against an offender until after a conviction, Daniel said.
Moran has been back in custody since the judge first revoked his probation on a misdemeanor contributing conviction following a new arrest in 2024 for misdemeanor stalking. A judge has since convicted Moran on the stalking offense.
Moran’s legal trouble began as a result of alleged crimes following his Valentine’s Day 2022. arrest on charges of luring a 17-year-old boy to him for sex and for buying the same teen a beer to drink.
The teen victim’s mom, Raychel Dykes, and her husband Russell Dykes attended the revocation hearing on Thursday. Russell Dykes said he had hoped the judge would order Moran to serve the full 15-year sentence for child exploitation.
“I feel great,” Raychel Dykes said after the judge sentenced Moran to prison in June.. “This is a big deal for our community. I mean, it’s essentially a sex offender not roaming our streets, messing with our children.”
In the bribery case, Moran and the others are accused of attempting to pay a stalking victim in Waveland $20,000 to drop his stalking allegations against Alan Moran in that case.
The stalking victim declined the offer and reported the bribery to Waveland police, who then launched a whole new criminal investigation involving Moran and his father. A Waveland judge convicted Moran of stalking, but he is appealing the conviction.
This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 12:29 PM.
