A grand jury in Texas indicted Governor Rick Perry indicted Friday on charges of abuse of power and coercion.

The charges stem from a 2013 scandal which is related to his effort to force District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign after her drunken driving arrest.

The scandal has been quietly rumbling in the Lone Star State as Perry has been floated as a viable contender for the Republican nomination in 2016.

Lehmberg , the first woman and first openly gay District Attorney in Travis County, runs the state’s Public Integrity Unit (PIU) which is charged with investigating wrongdoing by state officials.

After Lehmberg’s arrest and guilty plea for a drunk driving incident in April 2013, Perry called on her to resign and threatened to withhold $7.2 million in state money from the PIU if she refused.

Lehmberg refused and Perry carried through with his veto threat.

The two felony charges, abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public official, stem from this incident.

From the outset, Perry said that what he did was not illegal. However, his opponents were not convinced. In August, an investigation into the matter began, which resulted in the indictments.

Several top aides to the Republican governor appeared before grand jurors in Austin, including his deputy chief of staff, legislative director and general counsel.

Perry himself did not testify.

Grand jurors indicted Perry on abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony with potential punishments of five to 99 years in prison, and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years.

This was the last of Perry’s 14 years in office. He is the first sitting Texas gov. to be indicted since 1917, and the fifth gov to be indicted in the 21st Century.

Not even two weeks ago, Perry created a Political Action Committee, RickPAC. This month, Perry will travel to key states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.