December 01, 2008

FBI Arrests Birmingham Mayor

Name that party - Democrat - was conveniently omitted from article

(CNN) -- The FBI on Monday arrested the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, on federal charges including conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false income tax returns.

Larry Langford, 62, is named in an indictment that alleges criminal activity while he was a county commissioner, said U.S. Attorney Alice Martin.

As president of the Jefferson County Commission and head of its department of finance and general services from November 2002 until about November 2006, Langford put his personal affairs ahead of those of the county, Martin said.

"Our investigation has revealed, and the indictment alleges, that Langford sold his public office to his friends and political supporters," Martin said.

Also named in the 101-count indictment are William Blount, 55, a Montgomery, Alabama, investment banker, and Albert LaPierre, 58, a Birmingham lobbyist, neither of whom returned calls from CNN.

"Langford steered lucrative business to William Blount and his company and he, in turn, earned in excess of $7.1 million and, with the help of lobbyist Albert LaPierre, they ensured that Larry Langford's crushing personal debts were paid off through payoffs of loans, store charge accounts, purchases of clothing and jewelry and other items of value that exceeded $230,000 over a period from 2002 to 2006," Martin said.

The allegations go back to a 1996 consent decree entered into by the commission to bring Jefferson County into compliance with the Clean Water Act, which required authorizing billions of dollars in transactions.

After making his first appearance in U.S. District Court on Monday, Langford appeared outside the courthouse with his lawyer, who said he had told his client not to talk to reporters.

"He's got a city to run and right now, or very shortly, he's headed back to City Hall," the lawyer said.

I would hope the citizens of the city really don't want him to run it.