JeffCo’s Langford Urges Reversing Conviction and Starting All Over

BRADENTON, Fla. — Former Birmingham Mayor and Jefferson County commissioner Larry Langford said Wednesday that his conviction should be reversed, mail fraud counts against him dismissed due to insufficient evidence, and he should be given a new trial.

He made the comments in a 50-page brief filed on his behalf in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, which described the case against him as “entirely circumstantial.” The document provides a glimpse into the man convicted last October on 60 federal pay-to-play charges, largely stemming from sewer bond deals that he orchestrated in Jefferson County.

Langford never testified in his defense. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence in Kentucky after being convicted on charges of bribery, money laundering, mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, and filing a false tax return,

Langford has maintained his innocence despite the fact that federal prosecutors said he received $235,000 in gifts and money in return for directing bond business to Montgomery bond dealer Bill Blount, whose firm received $7 million in fees from county deals. Prosecutors said their mutual friend, lobbyist Al LaPierre, was often the go-between delivering money to Langford from Blount.

The three men were indicted together. However, LaPierre and Blount took plea deals while Langford stood trial alone.

In his appellate court brief, Langford denied knowing any money came from Blount. He said he thought gifts Blount bought for him simply came “from a wealthy friend.”

Langford contends that Blount was hired to work on county bond deals because of his local expertise, which would help in serving the county’s interests in dealing with large investment banks. He claims the fees paid to Blount were paid by the banks and not Jefferson County.

The brief contends that Langford’s defense team proved during his trial that the value of what he received was “minuscule” compared to the fees Blount earned — less than 1%.

“The so-called bribes were conveyed openly and with traceable records and did not involve cash, hidden accounts, mail drops, straw men, or other things usually associated with corruption,” the brief said. “There were good legal reasons to include Mr. Blount in the bond transactions.”

The brief alleges numerous errors in Langford’s lower court conviction, including the improper exclusion of evidence that would have cast him in a different light, and the inclusion of evidence unrelated to his case. It also notes the absence of evidence clearly showing that Langford took bribes.

Langford’s duties included overseeing the county’s nearly $3.2 billion of sewer warrants, which he restructured into variable- and auction-rate debt with related swaps. The county has not restructured the debt and has since defaulted on some payments.