GordonUnleashed

From Vision Land to Pokey Land

December 1st, 2008 by Steve

My favorite line from The Birmingham News article:

[Birmingham Mayor Larry] Langford was brought into court this morning wearing leg irons.

Here’s additional detail:

In page after page of the indictment, prosecutors allege Blount and LaPierre shelled out tens of thousands of dollars for expensive clothes and jewelry for Langford from upper-tier clothiers and shops in Birmingham and New York. For example, on April 14, 2004, while on a trip to New York, Blount paid almost $3,300 to Ermenegildo Zegna for a suit and two jackets for Langford, the indictment alleges. On Sept. 8, 2004, Blount paid just more than $4,000 to Remon’s Clothiers in Birmingham for clothing for Langford, the indictment alleges. Less than a month later, LaPierre paid the same shop $4,250 for clothes for Langford, according to the indictment.

The indictment also alleges that, in November 2004, while on another trip to New York, Blount paid just more than $12,000 for a watch for Langford and just a month later shelled out $11,750 to Bromberg’s in Birmingham for a Rolex watch and other jewelry for Langford.

Federal prosecutors allege in the indictment that the money from Blount and LaPierre to Langford didn’t go just for fancy duds. They also allege that, on Aug. 11, 2004, Blount wrote a $30,000 check to LaPierre, who the next day cut a check for the same amount to Langford, who a few days later obtained an official check from Compass Bank in the amount of $29,241 to pay his personal taxes.

In other dealings alleged in the indictment, Blount transferred $69,000 to LaPierre, who then wrote a check to Langford for that same amount. Langford then deposited that amount into his bank account and used it to buy, among other items, $12,000 in audio equipment and $12,000 more for more clothes, the indictment says. The indictment charges that Blount and his company were paid more than $7 million between 2002 and 2007. Most of the money came through a web of financing deals in which Langford required financial institutions doing business with the county to use Blount as a consultant. Blount, in turn, paid off Langford, the indictment charges.

Blount, 55, and LaPierre, 58, have long been considered among the best politically connected players in the state. Blount is a former chairman of the state’s Democratic Party, and LaPierre is the former executive director of the party. Langford is a Democrat.

Langford’s arrest Monday brings to four the number of former Jefferson County commissioners who have either been indicted or convicted or have pleaded guilty to corruption charges stemming from the bond deals surrounding the sewer work.

An arrest has been rumored for some time, and it’s nice to see it finally happened.

Perhaps most of the advocates for a taxpayer-funded domed stadium will quiet down a bit, lest they be put in the same category as Langford.

This should also serve as a reminder that Democrats are just as corrupt as Republicans.

Posted in Bad Democrats, It's a Southern Thang

3 Responses to “From Vision Land to Pokey Land”

John Killian wrote on 12/2/08 at 12:37 am :

Classic Gordon!!!
I have an article on my website on the Langford indictment, but your article is better.
Mike G wrote on 12/4/08 at 1:27 am :

You think Langford went crazy at the JC Penney sales? :=P
GordonUnleashed » Blog Archive » Another one bites the dust wrote on 12/9/08 at 6:10 pm :

[…] Mayor Langford, William Jefferson, and now Governor Blagojevich: Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested today by FBI agents for what U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald called a “staggering” level of corruption involving pay-to-play politics in Illinois’ top office. […]

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From Vision Land to Pokey Land

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