“All those engaged in public corruption must be brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.” — U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town
Public corruption in Alabama makes headlines again, a little over six months after two Balch and Bingham partners were indicted in an alleged bribery scheme.
The Birmingham Business Journal wrote:
A longtime Alabama lawmaker from Vestavia Hills, a health care CEO and a former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party were arrested on Monday on public corruption charges.
The arrests stem from the trio’s involvement with a legislative bill in 2016 focused on insurance coverage of medical treatments.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Alabama Rep. Jack D. Williams, 60, of Vestavia Hills; lobbyist Martin J. “Marty” Connors, 61, of Alabaster; and G. Ford Gilbert, 70, of Carmichael, California, who owns Trina Health LLC; were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery related to federal programs, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and honest services wire fraud.
So what does this mean? That the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama Louis V. Franklin, Sr. and the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama Jay E. Town are cracking down on public corruption.
As Town said in September after the Balch indictments: “All those engaged in public corruption must be brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.”
We applaud both U.S. Attorneys and federal investigators for their outstanding work tackling the most powerful (and who appear to be the most corrupt).
This is excellent news not only for the African-Americans who were suppressed in North Birmingham, but also to the descendants of slaves who were overlooked in an alleged whites-only property grab in Vincent, Alabama and for Burt Newsome who was a victim in an alleged criminal conspiracy to defame and steal his business.
We hope the scrutiny includes the questionable “contributions” to Judge Carole Smitherman’s husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman as she was considering sealing the Newsome Case and moving it into an unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber.
Go, Jay, go! Go, Louis, go!
