Three former McDuffie Coal Terminal employees have been arrested and charged after a years-long criminal investigation into alleged theft and misconduct at the Alabama Port Authority.
The defendants are Daniel Joseph Gill, Kenneth Wayne Keasler Jr. and Frank Bernard Coleman, according to the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office.
The Most Serious Case: 18 Felony Counts
Gill, 55, of Bay Minette, is a former assistant general manager of maintenance at McDuffie. He faces 18 felony counts, including computer tampering, theft of trade secrets, property theft and forging purchase orders.
According to complaints filed in Mobile County District Court, Gill allegedly forwarded confidential port bid documents, blueprints and confidential data from his state email account to a personal Gmail account and, in some cases, to a competitor.
Some of the bids involved were valued as high as $60 million. In one instance, the documents included information on nearly 400 employees.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office said prosecutors believe Gill benefited from the alleged conduct by receiving employment.
Two of the counts accuse Gill of obtaining two forged purchase orders worth $3,300 each. A separate theft charge accuses him of stealing six Michelin tires valued at $6,600.
The Scale Disparity
The gap between the two categories of allegation against Gill is striking. The property theft counts involve figures in the low thousands — tires and purchase orders. The trade secrets allegations involve bid packages valued in the tens of millions.
In competitive bidding for port infrastructure and maintenance contracts, advance access to a competitor’s bid documents and specifications is not a marginal advantage; it can determine the outcome of a procurement. That is why theft of trade secrets is charged as a felony distinct from the dollar value of any physical property taken.
The employee-information disclosure adds a separate dimension. Records covering nearly 400 employees represent a data exposure affecting people who had no involvement in the underlying dispute.
The Other Two Defendants
Keasler, 42, of Saraland, is accused of taking port property valued at $3,700 and of possessing forged purchase orders.
Coleman, 57, of Chunchula, is accused of taking $1,300 in vehicle items belonging to the port.
A fourth former employee remains wanted on a theft-related warrant, according to the Port Authority.
How the Case Developed
The charges follow the termination of four McDuffie employees earlier this year, after port officials said they were investigating an alleged theft scheme at the terminal.
In February, port officials said two McDuffie employees had been fired after officials discovered they had allegedly used the port’s procurement system to acquire goods. Two additional employees were later fired in connection with the scheme.
At the time, port officials said the later firings were delayed because the process to terminate state employees took longer than it did for the corporate employees fired earlier that month. Both of those employees waived their right to a hearing before the Alabama State Personnel Board.
In an email, a spokesperson for the Alabama Port Authority said the authority’s police department completed its initial investigation as of Wednesday, Sept. 2, and turned its findings over to the district attorney’s office. The authority declined to release additional information, citing the pending criminal proceedings.
The Port Director’s Statement
“Once these allegations were brought to my attention, I directed our Police Department to conduct a thorough investigation, and I want to commend our officers for their diligent work over the last several months,” Alabama Port Authority Director and CEO Doug Otto said.
“We are fortunate to have hundreds of dedicated employees who serve Alabama every day with honesty and integrity. We owe it to them, and to the people of this state, to uphold those values and act swiftly when those standards are violated.”
What the Port Has Not Released
Port officials have not released the full scope of what was allegedly stolen or its total value.
In February, officials said the port planned to hire a third-party accounting firm to audit the terminal’s spending and determine whether additional theft had occurred. The port’s board of directors was also slated to vote on a procurement policy lowering the amount terminal employees could spend without pre-approval from higher-ups.
That second measure addresses the structural vulnerability the case exposed. Spending authority delegated to terminal-level staff is what makes day-to-day maintenance possible at an operation running heavy equipment around the clock; it is also what creates the opening for a procurement system to be used improperly. Lowering the pre-approval threshold trades some operational speed for tighter control.
Gill’s Background and New Company
Gill’s online profile states he worked for the Alabama Port Authority from September 2019 to February 2026 and served as assistant general manager of maintenance from January 2025 to February 2026.
The profile states Gill led maintenance strategy, equipment reliability and capital improvements at McDuffie, with responsibilities including oversight of rotary railcar dumpers, stacker reclaimers, barge unloaders, ship loaders and conveyor systems.
The profile also states Gill founded Gill Technical Service in February. The company provides independent technical assessment, inspection and alignment services for bulk material-handling equipment — including many of the same services Gill oversaw for the port.
About the Terminal
The McDuffie Coal Terminal is owned and operated by the port and employs roughly 200 people.
The terminal exports between 15 million and 20 million tons of bulk coal products annually, much of it used in steel manufacturing in foreign countries. That volume makes McDuffie one of the largest coal handling facilities in the country and a significant component of the Port of Mobile’s overall throughput.
Where the Cases Stand
The charges are allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. South Alabama News will report developments as the cases proceed in Mobile County courts.