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COLUMBUS, GA -- Columbus attorney Mark Shelnutt was arrested on drug charges outside the Columbus Government Center.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation started investigating this case three months ago. According to the GBI, a confidential informant gave investigators information about Shelnutt's alleged distribution of Oxycodone, Alprazolam (trade name Xanax) and Hydrocodone. The GBI claims Shelnutt provided the informant with these drugs on multiple occassions, as recorded on video.

Shelnutt was turned over to the Muscogee County Sheriff's office around 4 p.m. Thursday.

District Attorney Joe Hendricks of the Appalachian Judicial Circuit has been appointed as a special prosecutor by the State Attorney General's Office.

District Attorney Julia Slater requested a special prosecutor in this case. Slater formerly worked at the same law firm as Shelnutt.

This is not Shelnutt's first encounter with the law. He was acquitted in November by a federal jury on charges of money laundering, attempted bribery and making false statements.

More on this story can be found at http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2010/09/24/1280154/attorney-mark-shelnutt-arrested.html