Blount, LaPierre to Be Sentenced Friday in Alabama Federal Court

BRADENTON, Fla. — Former Montgomery, Ala., bond dealer William Blount and lobbyist Albert LaPierre are scheduled to be sentenced Friday in Alabama federal court after pleading guilty to pay-to-play charges related to Jefferson ­County’s troubled sewer debt.

Sentencing memorandums filed in court Friday by attorneys for the two men say their cases are unique, and that the conspiracy roles they played in the county’s now-failed sewer financings were essentially aberrations in their careers.

Blount, who entered a deal with prosecutors to one count each of bribery and conspiracy, accepted a plea agreement of 52 months in prison that the judge is not bound by.

Blount also agreed to forfeit $1 million. He has “voluntarily” surrendered his law and securities licenses, his attorney said in Friday’s filing.

LaPierre entered a plea agreement to one count each of conspiracy and filing a false tax return, and agreed to forfeit $371,932.

Prosecutors agreed to consider recommending that he spend less than 48 months in prison in return for his help testifying against former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford.

Langford, who was president of the Jefferson County Commission and orchestrated the disastrous sewer refinancing, refused to accept a plea deal and was convicted on 60 federal counts last year.

Attorneys for Blount and LaPierre cited numerous letters of support among the reasons their clients should be considered for leniency.

“I have come to know Al well over the last nine years since leaving the [Alabama] Supreme Court,” wrote former Justice Ralph D. Cook, who is now a partner with the Hare, Wynn, Newell and Newton LLP law firm in Birmingham.

“[LaPierre] is a kind and good-hearted person” and those qualities can make it “difficult to say no in circumstances when one knows they should,” Cook wrote. “He has conducted himself over the course of his career, save this instance, in an exemplary manner.”

Blount’s attorney quoted extensively from letters submitted on behalf of his client, but has filed a motion to seal the document containing the actual letters. In Friday’s filing, Blount’s attorney said some of the supporters are investments bankers who currently work in Alabama.

Blount and LaPierre were named in a 101-count federal indictment in November 2008 along with Langford.

The three were charged with taking part in a pay-to-play scheme to refinance nearly $3.2 billion of fixed-rate sewer debt into variable- and auction-rate mode. To date, the county has been unable to restructure the debt and has defaulted on some payments.

After serving on the County Commission, Langford was elected mayor of Birmingham, a title he lost Oct. 28 when he was convicted on 60 federal charges related to gifts and money he received for directing bond business to Blount. While prosecutors said Blount’s firm earned $7.1 million in fees, LaPierre was described as a middleman who received nearly $400,000 for his work funneling money and arranging loans for Langford.

Last July LaPierre decided not to go through with trial and entered a plea agreement. Blount followed in August, entering a plea agreement and leaving Langford to stand trial alone.

Blount admitted to bribing Langford and former County Commissioner Mary Buckelew with expensive gifts purchased while they were on trips to New York conducting the county’s bond sales, as well as sending gifts to their county offices in Birmingham.

In November, Buckelew, 63, was ordered by a federal judge to pay a $20,000 fine, do 200 hours of community service, and spend three years on probation for lying to a grand jury about expensive gifts and spa treatments she received to influence her vote.

Attorneys for Blount and LaPierre did not return calls for comment.

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