JeffCo Prosecutors Urge Minimum of 24 Years for Langford

BRADENTON, Fla. — Federal prosecutors in Alabama Wednesday recommended that former Jefferson County Commission president Larry Langford be sentenced to a minimum of 24 years and four months and a maximum of 30 years and five months in prison.

Langford will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler on Friday.

Langford, 63, was convicted on 60 federal counts last fall related to $241,000 in cash, loan payoffs, clothing, and jewelry he solicited from Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. Many of the bribes occurred when Langford could use his influence during the refinancing of Jefferson County’s $3.2 billion of now-failed sewer warrants.

After Langford left the commission, he became mayor of Birmingham. He was stripped of the office immediately upon his conviction.

In a sentencing memorandum filed with the court, prosecutors also recommended that Langford pay $119,985 to the Internal Revenue Service for taxes he failed to pay on bribes, and that Langford forfeit another $241,843. Prosecutors did not recommend any restitution and said that issue should be left for civil courts to determine.

Last week, Coogler sentenced Blount to four years and four months in prison and LaPierre to four years in prison for their pay-to-play roles in the case. Both men had been indicted on numerous charges along with Langford, but they entered plea agreements before trial to two counts each. They received reduced sentences because they testified against Langford at his trial.