BRADENTON, Fla. — Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Larry Langford was convicted on 60 federal charges, nearly all related to his tenure as president of the Jefferson County Commission when $3.2 billion of sewer debt was refinanced.
A jury in Tuscaloosa deliberated less than two hours Wednesday to return the verdict in a case that was initiated by the Security and Exchange Commission’s investigation into bonds and swaps sold by Jefferson County in 2002 and 2003.
U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler, who presided over the trial that began Oct. 19, late Wednesday began informing Langford of the forfeiture that he will be required to make as a result of his conviction. He could be required to pay more than $200,000.
Langford was found guilty of 60 federal felony charges of bribery, fraud, money laundering, conspiracy, and filing false tax returns. He was accused of taking $236,000 in gifts and money from Montgomery bond dealer Bill Blount and their mutual friend, lobbyist Al LaPierre.
All three were indicted last fall, but Blount and LaPierre pleaded guilty to a handful of charges in the months before the pay-to-pay trial of all three was to begin — leaving Langford to stand trial alone.
Langford, who insisted he was innocent and never took a bribe, now stands to be removed from office as Birmingham’s mayor for his felony conviction.
In closing arguments, Langford’s attorney, Michael Rasmussen, said his client is a compulsive shopper who lives beyond his means and that made him an easy target to be duped by Blount and LaPierre.
Before jurors began deliberating this afternoon, Rasmussen called Blount the “$7 million dollar man” because that’s what Blount and his firm, Blount Parrish & Co., earned when they participated in Jefferson County’s bond deals while Langford was president of the county commission and in a position to steer bond business to Blount.
Most of that business was related to the $3.2 billion of sewer bonds and swaps that have threatened to bankrupt Alabama’s largest county.
Blount took advantage of Langford’s weaknesses in order to work on the county’s transactions, and on some occasions he used LaPierre to funnel money to Langford, Rasmussen said, calling Blount and LaPierre the conspirators — not Langford.
Last week, Blount and LaPierre testified that they bribed Langford to keep him happy and to earn county business.
In closing arguments Wednesday, Rasmussen called Langford a generous and “brilliant” politician who could not help himself when it came to buying things. He also told the jury that it was not illegal for Langford to recommend the bond firms that worked for the county.
Langford’s defense team called six witnesses, including Rick Fitzgerald, a former banker with Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Fitzgerald testified that it was common for issuers to retain local bond dealers to work on transactions and his firm hired Blount in hopes of getting business from Jefferson County. Blount was hired to work on a swap in 2003, Fitzgerald said. But after his firm disclosed the fees that were paid to Blount, Goldman never worked on any more of Jefferson County’s deals, Fitzgerald said.
In an attempt to show how generous Langford could be, his pastor and longtime friend, Ocie Oden, was called to the stand. Oden said, out of the presence of jurors, that Langford gave him 60 suits, some with tags still attached. However, the judge only allowed the jury to hear about one of the suits Langford gave Oden — a suit that came from the high-end Oxxford men’s store in New York that Blount purchased.
Mattie Jackson, a retired librarian who has known Langford for about 40 years, was the last to testify for Langford. She characterized him as a law-abiding citizen whom she had never known to be dishonest.
Prosecutors, in closing statements, called Blount a “fairy godfather” for Langford who should be held accountable for misdeeds and deliberately breaking the law. Langford knew he was receiving gifts and money, and in return he rewarded his benefactors, they told the jury.
Both sides were given 90 minutes each for closing statements Wednesday before Coogler
In a related matter Wednesday, Jefferson County released a material event notice stating that it had again defaulted on its sewer debt, most of which is in variable- and auction-rate mode.
The variable-rate warrants were sold to liquidity providers when they could not be remarketed and for months payment has been subject to an accelerated amortization schedule. The warrants are insured by Syncora Guarantee Inc., which has not paid bond insurance claims for months, including several claims on Jefferson County’s debt.
The county’s material event notice said interest on certain variable-rate sewer warrants had been paid, but sewer revenues were not sufficient to redeem $46 million of accelerated principal.
