Gilbert is serving 5 years in federal prison while Roberson is serving 30 months.
Now that the crimes in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal have been affirmed and all legal appeals have been exhausted, are more criminal indictments coming?
After their criminal convictions, Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin, the lead prosecutor of the North Birmingham Bribery Case stated:
We’re happy for the citizens of Birmingham that someone is finally speaking on their behalf. We’re happy that we were able to shine a light into this dark corner of Alabama politics and clean up a little bit of the pollution that’s there. This jury has spoken valiantly that this won’t be tolerated … . This is a righteous verdict.
A little bit of the pollution?
Was Martin foreshadowing what was to come?
Martin, who transferred to Mobile after the case, was allegedly disgusted with the politics in the Birmingham Office of the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama run by then-U.S Attorney Jay E. Town who at the time foolishly closed the hope for additional probes claiming that Gilbert and Roberson were “lone wolves” in the scandal, which many in media and law enforcement thought was pure bullshit.
A year and three months later, jaw-dropping photos of Alabama Power CEO and ex-Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite enjoying refreshing cocktails with U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town allegedly at the height of the criminal trial rocked the political and business establishment.
Now insiders allege that Balch, Alabama Power, Drummond, Matrix, and other Balch stooges are allegedly being investigated for alleged Obstruction of Justice.
And it makes perfect sense.
In the summer of 2019, we met with top investigators, some working for the U.S. Department of Justice, while on a trip in Washington. As we wrote then:
While Balch & Bingham, Drummond, and their alleged corrupt allies …may be contemplating more acts of gross injustice, eagle eyes are watching and bat ears are listening to every move, every exchange, every motion.
Our contacts at DOJ told us at the time that because of their deep pockets, Alabama Power not Balch & Bingham was the problem. What gravely concerned them was the incestuous corruption in Jefferson County.
The enormous amount of politcal pressure placed by Balch boosters and allies not to indict in 2017 in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal was unprecedented, and to some seasoned DOJ investigators, indicative of Alabama Power’s alleged deepfinancial pockets and alleged unchecked power.
Last year we saw similar political pressure when Alabama Power, Balch, and Drummond filed protective orders and had Roberson ‘s $75 million civil case sealed in its entirety.
Now a criminal investigation could open the doors wide-open at Alabama Power, exposing Crosswhite in the nude (figuratively). Investigators can then drag themselves through the raw sewage of Sloppy Joe and the Matrix Meltdown. Finally, law enforcement can hold Drummond’s “confused” General Counsel accountable and interview every member of the Drummond family.
The probe won’t happen overnight and appears to have begun in late October.
The Biden Administration appears to be quietly moving ahead. The DOJ, the EPA, and the SEC each have chips in this game.
And as a final note, besides Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin transferring to Mobile, we learned that two top FBI agents involved with the North Birmingham investigation were promoted away from the corrupt cesspool of Jefferson County.
Obviously law enforcement professionals have had enough of the corrupt shenanigans in the Magic City.
But then again, who has the deep pockets to fund these corrupt shenanigans?
We called the Alabama Supreme Court decision on ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil suit a possible “lethal blow” to embattled law firm Balch & Bingham.
Now the national media has begun focusing on the narrative and the initial reports appear to be devastating.
Bloomberg News writes:
Roberson sued [Balch & Bingham] and his former employer in March 2019, alleging negligence, fraud, suppression, and implied imdemnity against the firm.
Alabama’s top court…grant[ed] an application for rehearing on claims against Balch & Bingham for misrepresention and concealmentbased on allegations that Roberson had previously asked the firm’s in-house ethics attorneys if the plan for which he was convicted was legal.
Misrepresention and concealment are stinging words but accurate.
During Day 11 (July 11, 2018) of the criminal trial of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, we posted:
The real bomb that dropped today was that of Chad Pilcher, a Balch & Bingham government affairs attorney who testified that he warned [Balch partner] Joel Gilbert about using State Representative Oliver Robinson’s position or letterhead. Pilcher regularly consults with the Alabama Ethics Commission, he testified.
John Archibald of AL.com tweet[ed]:
Pilcher said he warned Gilbert that Robinson could not use his official position or letterhead to help. Gilbert, documents show, edited Robinson’s position into letters sent In Robinson’s name.
Pilcher is the first Balch lawyer on the stand who remembers his advice and involvement, and who recalls the Robinson contract and states his questions about pitfalls of hiring a legislator to carry your water. Was worried that Robinson himself broke the law, so he told Gilbert.
Kyle Whitmire commented that the testimony not only hurts the defendants, it “makes the defense attorneys look stupid. This whole trial, they’ve been setting up Pilcher to be the guy who gave the OK.”
Two days later on Day 13 of the trial (July 16, 2018) , Gilbert was grilled by the prosecution. As we wrote at the time:
John Archibald of AL.com tweets what appears to be the most damning exchanges:
Gilbert wrote letters for Shelby, Sessions, he said. For Mayor Tuck in Tarrant and resolutions for Jeffco and Tarrant. And more. Only elected official B/B had contract with was Oliver Robinson, he says.
Gilbert acknowledges he didn’t talk to his firm’s “ethics people” (Greg Butrus) until at least a year after he contracted Oliver Robinson. Didn’t tell the “ethics people” Robinson met with EPA and AEMC etc. etc.
Although Roberson’s lawsuit is under seal, locked away in a secret Star Chamber, the testimony at the criminal trial was stunning and hit hard.
Balch-made millionaire Gilbert appears to have concealed the truth from Roberson. Balch says in court pleadings that the firm “owed no duty” to Roberson and while Balch attorneys testify that misleading or lying to Roberson with wrong or untruthful advice is a bona-fide legal service.
Since November, we have been told by high-level sources that a federal investigation is ongoing in Birmingham and focused on “obstruction” and other alleged crimes. Balch & Bingham appears to be in disarray, suffering from internal strife since late last year and we know that something is going on.
Today, we list a cast of characters that should be interviewed by federal investigators.
Undoubtedly, backers, insiders, lackeys and stooges from Alabama who were tied to the Trump Administration appear to have tried to protect their web of power, allegedly obstruct justice, possibly cover-up alleged criminal acts, and limit additional investigations during the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, Trial, and aftermath.
Chug, chug, chug!
The photos of Alabama Power CEO and former Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite enjoying refreshing cocktails at the Moon Shine Lounge with then-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town allegedly at the height of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial symbolize the enormous power, bottomless financial resources, and unlimited influence Alabama Power has.
The ties between the Three Stooges (Balch, Alabama Power, and Drummond) and the Trump Administration were intensely close.
The common denominator is the Trump Administration appointees.
When President Donald J. Trump as a candidate was to be endorsed by then-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions in 2016, the original venue was to be at the hangar of Black Hall Aerospace in Huntsville, a Balch & Bingham client.
Sessions number one lifetime donor was Alabama Power while his number two lifetime donor was Alabama Power’s sister-wife Balch & Bingham, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Jeffrey H. Wood
After Trump’s victory in 2016, Jeff Sessions became U.S. Attorney General and Balch partner Jeffrey H. Wood, a lobbyist who was on Capitol Hill on behalf of Alabama Power at the height of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal in 2016, was nominated as Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
Balch stooge and Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange was appointed U.S. Senator in February of 2017 after Sessions became U.S. Attorney General.
Trey Glenn, the former Executive Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and a Balch & Bingham consultant, was appointed EPA Administrator for the Region Four in August of 2017.
That summer of 2017, Jay E. Town was nominated and confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.
President Trump’s Economic Advisory Councils were disbanded in 2021.
Luther Strange and ex-Alabama Governor Robert J. Bentley
The biggest if not smelliest alleged crime we uncovered was the $25,000 contribution alleged bribeto Luther Strange that was allegedly hand-delivered by the Drummond family to Strange just before he signed and sent a letter drafted by Balch against the North Birmingham CERCLA matter on official Alabama Attorney General letterhead.
Beyond the alleged bribe contribution to Strange, federal authorities should look at the alleged “just-cut-a-check-and-don’t-ask-questions” bribery ring involving some of the most powerful corporations in Alabama.
Each and every executive at Drummond, including “confused” General Cousel Blake Andrews, every member of Drummond’s Board of Directors, and all Drummond family members involved with the company need to be interrogated by federal investigators.
Then there is the “most powerful man in Alabama,” Mark A. Crosswhite, the CEO of Alabama Power, and the “blood money” contribution to the entity that allegedly helped provoke the January 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill, trying to overturn the election for Trump.
During the 2019-2020 election cycle, the single largest contribution from Alabama Power Employees Federal PAC went to the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the entity that launched robocalls the day before the insurrection mob marched to and desecrated the U.S. Capitol.
The most powerful man in Alabama?
The robocall stated, “The March to Save America is tomorrow in Washington, D.C….At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” according to The Washington Post.
In addition, allegedly Alabama Power had a secret deal where they were “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery criminal trial. Alabama Power was the only entity that donated to the money laundering entity known as the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) that did NOT testify during the trial in 2018.
Crosswhite, boasted in 2016 that he enjoys being the final decision maker as the leader of the utility.
When speaking to investigators, will Crosswhite admit he made the final decision to funnel $25,000 to the Rule of Law entity or will he blame others? Will he even acknowledge an alleged secret deal with the Office of the U.S. Attorney or will that remain unmentionable?
Speaking of disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Town, he was an important Trump ally and appointee who looks like he engaged in possible prosecutorial misconduct.
Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town
Town allegedly told others, according to sources, that his nomination was confirmed too late in 2017 by the U.S. Senate for him to kill the North Birmingham Bribery Trial and that some would have to stand trial.
After the criminal convictions in 2018, Town refused to expand the North Birmingham Bribery investigation and declared that Balch’s Joel I. Gilbert and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson were “lone wolves,” which law enforcement officers and others saw as a betrayal.
Knowing there are no such things as coincidences, the half-baked deposition with Verizon in the Newsome Conspiracy Case appears to be a centerpiece in the alleged dirty work linked to Town.
And what law firm represents Verizon regularly? McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown, New Jersey, just one mile away from Verizon’s Corporate Headquarters. And who worked for McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter before his career as a prosecutor? Jay E. Town.
Trey Glenn
Finally, there is Trump appointee and former Balch consultant Trey Glenn, the disgraced former EPA Administrator of Region 4, who lasted about a year on the job. He could make for a terrific federal witness.
In November of 2020, AL.com reported that Glenn had struck a plea deal in his criminal ethics case writing:
As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped felony charges against him and he won’t spend any time in jail. Instead, he must pay $10,000 in fines and keep his nose clean during two years of unsupervised probation.
“Part of the understanding is that Mr. Glenn will testify truthfully in any matter in which we call him and subpoena him as a witness,” Alabama Ethics Commission General Counsel Cynthia Raulston told the court.
The Three Stooges (Drummond Company, Balch, and Alabama Power) fiercely sought protective orders in December of 2020 in the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit, which has since been sealed in its entirety.
What are they afraid of? The Three Stooges have shown concern and vivid panic, and investigators need to probe.
Crosswhite, Andrews, Town, Glenn, Strange, Sessions, Wood and others close to them should be interviewed by criminal investigators if they haven’t been already.
With the Alabama Supreme Court saying Balch must stand trial for fraud in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit, more criminal indictments are needed.
The Three Stooges of this horrific saga known as the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal need to be held accountable.
The rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal may go on for another three or four years in secret, in a sealed and closed Star Chamber.
However, federal investigators can and must dig deep into the shenanigans.
Larry, Curly and Moe have been replaced by “Lying” Balch, “Confused” Drummond, and “Unmentionable” Alabama Power.
1. More Potential Lies and Possible Co-Conspirators
The bottom line is if Balch can mislead and lie, and call the bullshit a “legal service,” then what other lies or misleading statements have they provided to federal investigators?
What to expect from Balch? White lies, damn lies, and prison time?
As the judge in the criminal case wrote during the trial, “[Balch partner Joel I.] Gilbert told the grand jury that others at the law firm ‘were aware of [the] engagement’ of Robinson on behalf of Roberson’s employer, and Defendant [Balch partner Steven] McKinney testified that Gilbert told him that ‘the government affairs guys vetted [the agreement with Robinson’s Foundation] and said it was okay.'”
But Gilbert had lied to McKinney as he had done so to Roberson.
David Roberson told The Washington Post in 2020 that beyond convicted felon and ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert, allegedly another 20 Balch & Bingham attorneys were involved in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal.
So how many Balch partners or attorneys were involved in stamping their seal of approval on the purchase of corrupt politician Oliver Robinson?
How many more individuals at Balch knowingly were involved in processing the over $360,000 in bribes to Robinson?
2. Tampered Evidence
More importantly, how many documents, invoices, and/or emails have been tampered with and by whom?
On December 1, 2014, convicted ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert dispatched a letter of intimidation to GASP, the health and environmental public charity that they tried to undercut.
Gilbert outside the courthouse
According to Balch billing documents, Gilbert may have been on vacation the week of Thanksgiving 2014, because his last billing is for Friday, November 21, 2014. The letter is dated December 1, 2014, a Monday, but nothing shows up in the December billings.
Who paid for that letter? Were there alterations of billing documents and invoices?
Were federal prosecutors misled or hoodwinked?
Balch allegedly may have provided a manipulated invoice to federal authorities during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial as the original invoice.
Drummond claimed in pleadings before the Roberson case was sealed in its entirety that “Balch’s first draft of the invoice was incorrectly addressed to Blake Andrews…”
Drummond’s lawyers were so furious that the original invoice was being used in the $75 million civil lawsuit, Drummond even subpoenaed the former secretary of convicted felon and ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert. She handwrote “It should be David Roberson” on the invoice.
Who really cares who actually scribbled down the change?
The undisputed fact is the original invoice was changed. Was Roberson duped, signed off on the corrupt invoice, and set up as the “fall guy?”
Federal investigators need to only look at an example of the alleged alteration of evidence in the Newsome Conspiracy Case—the future RICO suit against Balch that currently is awaiting further indictments.
Nothing should surprise federal investigators. Nothing.
3. Paid Balch Stooges
Then there are Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips who should be probed by federal investigators. As readers may recall, Glenn and Phillips were indicted in November of 2018 by a local grand jury.
Mugshots of Phillips and Glenn
Balch & Bingham contracted with Trey Glenn who then directed payments to Scott Phillips to lobby the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to oppose the EPA in listing the North Birmingham site on the National Priorities List.
At the time that Scott Phillips and Trey Glenn were receiving money from Balch to lobby ADEM on a policy matter involving the listing of North Birmingham as a Superfund site, Scott Phillips was on the Alabama Environmental Management Commission, the entity that oversees ADEM.
The lobbying scheme and testimony from Phillips and Glenn were used to convict Roberson in his criminal trial. Roberson was allegedly told by Drummond executives and lawyers at Balch that the consulting work paid to the duo was in regardsto the ABC Coke plant, a lie.
4. “Confused” Drummond and Alleged Bribes
According to sources, the federal government wanted Roberson to honestly testify about the alleged bribes from Drummond Company to politicians.
The Roberson Family
The testimony the feds also sought included details of an alleged bribery ring of “do-not-ask” but “just-send-the-check” co-conspirators. But Roberson’s criminal attorneys allegedly rejected a full-immunity deal. Roberson would be a free man today.
With the criminal attorneys being paid generously by Drummond Company, some observers wonder: Was the rejection of the immunity deal done solely for Drummond’s benefit at Roberson’s expense?
Blake Andrews, General Counsel of Drummond Company, was allegedly so “confused” by the invoices in the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme, he allegedly had Roberson sign off on them as the “fall guy.”
Was “Confused” Andrews involved in any way with the rejection of this immunity deal?
Drummond allegedly vowed to keep him on the payroll, pay for his criminal litigation costs, and take care of Roberson and his family. Yet six months after his conviction, Roberson was terminated. He lost his home, his possessions, and barely can pay for the prescription drugs of his family members.
The Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) was the corrupt entity behind the money laundering of $360,000 in bribes to disgraced ex-State Representative Oliver Robinson.
Strange involved himself in the North Birmingham EPA matter, allegedly provoked by Balch, even though Strange had no authority to do so. At the time, the Governor had delegated the Alabama Department of Environmental Management to handle all issues related to the North Birmingham EPA matter.
On October 13, 2014, convicted felon and Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert sent Luther Strange, then the Alabama Attorney General, a draft letter about the North Birmingham EPA matter.
Four days later, on October 17, Strange accepted a $25,000 contribution from Drummond Company.
The $25,000 was allegedly hand delivered in 2014 to Attorney General Strange when Thompson allegedly brought him over to Drummond Company’s executive offices, circumventing government affairs and meeting with members of the Drummond family directly.
Six days later after the money was deposited, Strange signed the ghost-written letter and dispatched it on his official letterhead to the EPA on October 23, 2014. (Read the source documents here.)
5. Alabama Power’s Secret Deal and the Matrix Meltdown
In court filings in the Roberson case (before it was sealed), Alabama Power claimed the utility “was a victim of those who ran AJE.”
As we said before, cry us a polluted river!
The money-laundering entity of the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) was the alleged brainchild of Alabama Power while emails from convicted Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert discussing the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme were sent to Alabama Power while convicted ex-Drummond executive David Roberson in some instances was simply carbon-copied. Alabama Power was briefed regularly.
In their pleadings Alabama Power also discusses our post on Jeffrey H. Wood, the ex-Balch & Bingham lobbyist who was on Capitol Hill in 2016 being briefed on the North Birmingham CERCLA matter at the height of the bribery scandal on behalf of Alabama Power, calling information on Wood’s lobbying efforts “irrelevant.”
Paying for Refreshing Cocktails or a Conspiracy on the Rocks?
What really angered Alabama Poweris the alleged secret deal with disgraced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town in which Alabama Power was “unmentionable” during the criminal trial, calling the allegations a “conspiracy theory.”
The jaw-dropping photos of Town and Crosswhite at the Moon Shine Lounge are not a “conspiracy theory.”
Now Alabama Power has more controversy with alleged secret indemnity agreements and multi-million-dollar contracts not requiring detailed invoicing.
The Matrix Meltdown is causing a storm of documents to be leaked and a published report outlined how Alabama Power allegedly dished out $2.5 million to Joe Perkins, the founder of the obscure political consulting firm Matrix, without the need to provide itemized invoices.
For years, incredible rumors and colorful innuendo circulated around Matrix, now in the middle of an ugly, two-state divorce between founder Joe Perkins and his once-protege Jeff Pitts.
The allegations include using actors, smearing political opponents, setting up AstroTurf campaigns, hiring brain-dead journalists, and engaging in fear-tactics that could appear to be criminal acts.
And these alleged fear-tactics and criminal acts, could they the center of a criminal investigation that could lead to more indictments?
No general counsel or government attorney can justify hiring Balch & Bingham any longer because the firm appears to be a third-party risk.
The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court two weeks ago declaring that Balch & Bingham will stand trial for fraud in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit appears to be a lethal blow to the once-prestigious, silk-stocking law firm.
The Alabama Supreme Court noted in its decision that the embattled law firm argued that “Balch had owed no duty to Roberson because Drummond, not Roberson, was Balch’s client.”
The Supreme Court concluded:
For the purposes of this appeal, the following facts must therefore be taken as true:
(1) Roberson is not a client of Balch. (2) Roberson never asked Gilbert for an opinion on the legality of his conduct. (3) Roberson asked Gilbert if certain attorneys employed by Balch had rendered an opinion on the legality of his conduct. (4) Balch never rendered an opinion on the legality of Roberson’s conduct. (5) Gilbert lied about the existence of a favorable opinion having been reached by such attorneys. (6) Gilbert accepted a check for $5,000 from Drummond, Roberson’s employer, which Roberson approved and which was payable to Balch, for the purpose of a fund-raising campaign to purchase “winter coats for kids,” and Gilbert, without the knowledge of Roberson, had agreed that Oliver Robinson, a member of the Alabama Legislature, could keep half the proceeds of the check.
During the course of the Roberson appellate proceedings, Balch declared that the firm:
“owed no duty” to tell the truth to a client’s representative and
Both foolish arguments without a doubt have made Balch a third-party risk.
Observers appear to agree that the third-party risk of Balch looks like it will impact their clients that are heavily regulated. Shareholders and institutional investors are demanding the highest adherence to legal compliance and social responsibility, while frowning on any kind of third-party risk.
No general counsel or government attorney can justify hiring Balch & Bingham any longer because the firm appears to be a third-party risk.
If you hire Balch, you could be misled or lied to and could end up in federal prison like David Roberson.
Balch lies to a client’s representative and appears to say it is justified because the firm owes no duty to the executive, only the entity he works for.
Balch lies and says in open court that misleading someone or lying is a legal service.
Even Southern Company, Balch’s top client and parent company of Balch’s sister-wife siamese-twin Alabama Power, has compliance rules that state:
We also expect our suppliers/contractors, in their work with us, to conduct themselves with honesty, integrity, fairness and a commitment to legalcompliance. Suppliers/contractors are expected to comply with all applicable laws and regulations and certain Southern Company policies….
And now who is waiting in the wings?
Balch’s competitors.
The vultures and wolves smell blood and are salivating for every sweet morsel of Balch’s current clients as well as any seasoned Balch partner, attorney, or staff member that currently works at the embattled law firm and is ready to head to the emergency exit.
Is the contamination of underground water the possible genesis of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal born at the offices of Balch and Bingham?
The Birmingham Business Journal reported this week:
The U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Alabama determined that substantial, contaminated sub-surface flow discharging from Drummond’s site into the Black Warrior River near Praco on a daily basis is an illegal discharge of pollutants through underground water in violation of federal law.
Is Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant next?
This past December, CNN reported that the EPA was probing Alabama Power. CNN’s visual and interactive story on polluting ash ponds outlined potential environmental disasters and the “money-making” schemes surrounding those foolish decisions.
Alabama Power’s Barry Plant (and toxic ash pond) near Mobile, Alabama was a central figure of the investigative story and highlights the controversy surrounding the future of these contaminated ash ponds.
But Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant appears to raise more questions and concerns than Barry.
As we reported in March of last year:
Miller Steam Plant
North Birmingham appears to have been a side-show, a distraction to the the real objective: squashing the tiny environmental group GASP before the group could start probing the Miller Steam Plant, one of the biggest greenhouse polluting, coal-burning plants in the nation, according to recent news reports.
We, the CDLU, are not environmentalists.
However, having investigated numerous unsavory businesses and inept government agencies in the past two decades, we understand that something at the Miller Steam Plant in Jefferson County made Alabama Power concerned, gravely concerned.
We believe that concern could have been what environmental groups like GASP and others have been discussing about for years: ash ponds of coal waste next to water supplies.
Now we have obtained a letter filed… with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management by an environmental engineer who writes:
While I am certain that the current use of these ash ponds complies with current standards, past practices (unregulated at the time) may have resulted in highly toxic wastes being deposited in the ponds.
[T]he fact that the Miller facility was constructed in the late 1970’s, prior to the full implementation of the federal TSCA and RCRA regulations mean that is possible that PCBs, asbestos, and boiler cleaning wastes could have been placed (legally) in the pond. When coupled with the fact that much older Powell Avenue Steam Plant ash was placed in the past, I believe, at a minimum, ADEM should have required APC to conduct historical research to determine if the extent, if any, toxic substances were placed in the pond.
[The EPA] needs to investigate if historic toxic waste were ever placed into the ash pond and test deep inside the ash pond, and the water in and around the ash pond, known as the Locust Fork.
Has there been seepage? Have toxins knowingly been entered into the water supply? Didanyoneknowandcoverthisup?
Ketona Lakes
Then there is Drummond’s other headache: Ketona Lakes. We wrote the news last year writing:
For over 35 years, the site of two former quarries has been hidden from public view. Located in Jefferson County, not far from North Birmingham and smack in the middle of the City of Tarrant, the Ketona Lakes are quarries now filled with water.
The water is allegedly extremely contaminated and toxic.
Sources tell us that Drummond acquired the property when they purchased ABC Coke, and the site had extensive underground pipes that used to go directly underground to ABC Coke.
Drummond allegedly sealed off the pipes, tore down all physical structures, and then secured, fenced, and fully abandoned the site in 1985, thinking no one would know or care.
Ketona Lakes was the site of a former chemical company and decades of harmful chemicals and toxins have allegedly stayed in the soil and water.
As the SEC probes the Crosswhite Scandal and federal investigators interview hired smear artists allegedly affiliated with the Matrix Meltdown, the EPA and U.S. Department of Justice should dig deep into these alleged toxic sites, and the overflowing resources and web of entities and officials used to protect them from scrutiny, some for decades.
Matrix is closely tied to Alabama Power and its sister-wife, siamese twin Balch & Bingham.
The obscure political consulting group has a legendary if not a mythical reputation of engaging in alleged dirty tricks and alleged sinister if not criminal misconduct.
Is it true or fantasy?
Now everything is on the table and up for scrutiny. Will investigator connect the dots?
Since 2017, our blog has documented atrocious misconduct. As we have repeatedly said, in Alabama there are no such things as coincidences.
Let’s start with the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Burt Newsome, an innocent lawyer minding his own business who had no issues with Balch & Bingham, was allegedly targeted, falsely arrested and defamed by the once-prestigious, silk-stocking law firm in an alleged attempt to steal his business servicing banks.
Let’s review some of the alleged staged acts beginning with the Verizon mess.
The real Jason Forman of Verizon
The half-baked deposition of an alleged Verizon employee who appears to have been an actor.
And what law firm represents Verizon regularly? McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown, New Jersey, just one mile away from Verizon’s Corporate Headquarters.
And who worked for McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter before his career as a prosecutor? Jay E. Town
Then there were the alleged crimes of intimidation against Burt Newsome and his family.
Alleged act of attempted murder?
The smashing of his wife’s car window at a gym in which her purse was stolen. Law enforcement alleged she was targeted. Video surveillance of the incident shows the suspects driving around allegedly specifically looking for Newsome’s vehicle.
The sick operatives who sent the Newsome family a threatening package: Five pieces of luggage and numerous clothing outfits. There were approximately three dozen outfits for mom and the four Newsome children. Was Newsome going to be injured, killed or murdered? Or were the wife and children going to “disappear” on a permanent vacation?
Exactly two years and a month later, Newsome was injured in a head-on accident. He was gravely injured and nearly killed. Some even claimed the act was an alleged act of attempted murder.
Now let’s look at the case of ex-Drummond executive David Roberson who filed a $75 million civil case against Balch and Drummond company.
Roberson’s 90-year-old mother-in-law returned to her home in Jasper in 2019 after a hospital stay to find the windows of her home shattered, both in the front yard and backyard. Nothing was stolen from the home. Was it a message of intimidation and fear?
As ex-Drummond Company executive David Roberson was driving along Highway 280 in Shelby County a year ago, someone apparently shot out his rear driver’s window. Roberson was shaken up, scared, and rightly so. With glass blown exclusively inside the car, the projectile was obviously aimed at the driver’s side and missed Roberson’s head by inches.
Then there is the orchestrated campaign against us, the CDLU, which utterly backfired, and has raised the eyes of investigators.
An actor impersonated CDLU’s Executive Director and used the existence of his then-8-year-old daughter in an attempt to illegally obtain confidential financial information.
The continued harassment of CDLU’s accountants by morons who demanded copies of our tax filings when they should have contacted us directly.
An embittered stalker and failed real estate agent was caught on security cameras at CDLU’s Birmingham offices (shut down at the time due to COVID-19) sitting in his black pick-up truck for 15 minutes before grilling the receptionist at the business next door, providing a false name and bogus cell phone number one-off from his real cell phone number. Idiot!
The writing of several hilarious articles in the Alabama Political Reporter that included the idiotic defense of Balch & Bingham. The public ripped the publication to shreds.
The public humiliation of a once-respected investigative journalist who allegedly amputated his brain for 30 pieces of silver.
Stunned: Buffoons, idiots, and morons!
Was Matrix, in anyway, involved in any or none of these dirty deeds?
Did Alabama Power (which pays Matrix millions) or its sister-wife Balch back any or none of these acts financially?
From what we have been told, investigators appear to be tracking down and interviewing the buffoons, idiots and morons involved in these alleged unsavory and criminal acts.
Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town fled in the middle of the night after resigning. He could have been a current candidate for U.S. Senate, but the photos of him slamming back cocktails with Alabama Power CEO and former Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite were political suicide.
Now with Sloppy Joe and the Matrix Meltdown; the Crosswhite Scandal and secret million-dollar contracts; and Balch’s internal strife, who else truly wishes to hang themselves… or are they ready to cooperate with criminal investigators about these acts?
Ex-Drummond executive David Roberson, the “fall guy” of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, had a major legal victory against embattled law firm Balch & Bingham today.
The Alabama Supreme Court today reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by former Drummond Company vice president and lobbyist David Roberson, who was convicted in 2018 of bribing a state lawmaker.
Roberson sued Drummond Company, his former employer, and the Balch & Bingham law firm in 2019, alleging they concealed and misrepresented information that contributed to his conviction.
A Jefferson County Circuit Court judge dismissed Roberson’s lawsuit in September 2020, agreeing with Balch & Bingham that the case was barred because of time limitations imposed by the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act.
Today, in a 4-3 decision, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed that and sent the case back to the circuit court.
The Supreme Court agreed with Roberson that his case did not fall under the Alabama Legal Services Liability Act because he was not a legal client of the defendants but was suing for common law fraud.
In Roberson’s lawsuit, he claims he acted on assurances by [Balch & Bingham partner Joel I.] Gilbert that the contract with [State Rep. Oliver] Robinson had been cleared as ethical and legal by Balch & Bingham attorneys. He claims that Gilbert did not inform him after Balch & Bingham later determined that Robinson’s conduct was illegal.
According to the lawsuit, Roberson wrote a $5,000 check on behalf of Drummond to pay for winter coats for children in north Birmingham as part of the public relations campaign opposing the EPA listing. The lawsuit says Roberson did not learn until his criminal trial that Robinson received $2,500 of the $5,000 check, and that payment to Robinson was used as damaging information against Roberson in the trial.
Why were Balch & Bingham consultants so hung up on denouncing in public a proposed NAACP submitted redistricting map as invalidinstead of having city officials sit down with the Civil Rights entity and find common ground and a potential resolution?
The answer could be money.
Balch’s Dorman Walker
Balch looks like they want to see a brutal legal fight so the alleged racist law firm could be hired by the City of Auburn to defend the indefensible and drain the city coffers of thousands of dollars.
Darmon Walker, the Balch consultant, helped the State of Alabama with redistricting in 2011. The redistricting plan was tossed out by a federal court and the maps eventually had to be redrawn. Walker and his firm made a windfall in the 2011 redistricting debacle. The state lost and had to redraw, yet Balch made thousands of dollars if not millions.
Is Balch lying to and duping the City of Auburn?
Balch had the ridiculous audacity to call false advice, lying to client a “Legal Service.” Balch was sued by David Roberson, the ex-Drummond executive who was sentenced to five years in federal prison after a Balch attorney assured him everything was legal and ethical.
Now, that bad legal advice, or alleged bad legal advice, was November 2014. . . . The whole gravamen of this case is based on legal advice that was wrong or false or falsely stated. . . . In addition . . . they say [Mr. Roberson] relied to [his] detriment on this . . . legal advice and was convicted on July 20, 2018 . . . and they suffered damages as a result of that bad legal advice.
It does not depart from the fact that his whole claim is based on poor, faulty legal advice. Whether he was technically a client or not, he says he heard it, he relied on it. The law firm basically gave him false advice. He acted on it, and he was convicted. Nothing could be more a case of a claim against a legal services provider than this case is.
Besides lying, since 2017, Balch has been hemorrhaging, losing clients, partners, and millions. How much? Some estimate in the aggregate losses are possibly over $10 million.
The intelligent choice is for the City of Auburn to immediately terminate Balch.
Mayor Ron Anders, Jr. should pick up the phone and ask for a meeting with city electoral map makers and the NAACP.
Auburn can work as a community instead of wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars on an embattled law firm.
Ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert has been assigned gardening responsibilities at the Federal Prison Camp located at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery.
Now that legacy Balch partner Rob Fowler dumped the once-prestigious firm for a job at a coal facility that currently is not operating, insiders are curious what internal strife is happening at Balch to cause Fowler to run to the emergency exit.
Sources tell us that Gilbert may have been intentionally screwed by his own law firm, just like ex-Drummond executive David Roberson appeared to be screwed as the “fall guy” by Drummond.
The “lone wolves” theory peddled by disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town appears to have been a line of crap.
Joel I. Giibert and his wife have two young children
Gilbert, the father of two beautiful young children, was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison, and Balch appears to have blamed him for the scandal after his conviction three years ago. Stan Blanton, managing partner at Balch, had the audacity to try to pivot the bribery scheme away from the firm, saying “our firm was not a party to the case.”
But is that the truth? Wasn’t the criminal scheme born at the offices of Balch & Bingham? Did other Balch attorneys and representatives lie or perjure themselves? Were documents manipulated or evidence destroyed? What did the executive committee at Balch know?
One of the items we discovered that has bothered us is the possibility of evidence tampering. We wrote at the height of the criminal trial in 2018:
On December 1, 2014, indicted Balch & Bingham partner Joel Gilbert dispatched a letter of intimidation to GASP, the health and environmental public charity that they tried to undercut by allegedly buying a politician for $360,000.
It appears that Gilbert may have been on vacation the week of Thanksgiving, because his last billing is for Friday, November 21, 2014. The letter is dated December 1, 2014, a Monday, but nothing shows up in the December billings.
Evidence tampering or we just can’t find it?
Then again, maybe prosecutors need to look at an example of the alleged alteration of evidence in the Newsome Conspiracy Case—Balch & Bingham’s other quagmire.
Nothing should surprise them. Nothing.
Now outsiders believe someone else could have paid for the letter of intimidation. Could it have been Alabama Power or a related entity?
And what about those alleged indemnity deals to cover-up and protect alleged unsavory if not criminal misconduct?
Regan of the EPA
Michael S. Regan of the EPA needs to send his investigators to Montgomery and interview Gilbert. Then they need to knock on the door of embattled Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite and find out more about the Miller Steam Plant and the alleged toxic ash ponds. Finally, the investigators need to visit with the “confused’ General Counsel of Drummond Company, Blake Andrews.
In return, Gilbert should get time shaved off for his cooperation.
Inherent goodness needs to prevail. For the sake of the residents of North Birmingham and for the sake of Gilbert’s young children.
The King of Balch & Bingham and dinosaur partner at the embattled law firm Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. died one year ago today.
Ironically in 2017, Baker vowed to fight the Newsome Conspiracy Case to the death.
Baker, serving as General Counsel at Balch, made an enormously foolish decision.
His fight to the death cost the firm millions,tarnished and damaged Balch’s once-respected reputation, made 18 of 18 D.C. lobbying clients dump the firm, and created the greatest exodus ever of money-making partners.
The ghost of Balch’s past is sadly still present.
Now with an alleged pedophile cover-up, an alleged ongoing Elderly Exploitation Scandal investigation, and the Mississippi Rental Assistance debacle, the unholy trinity of scandal would not be garnering interest by law enforcement or the media if Balch had cleaned up their loose ends after Baker died.
Where is the sensible leadership?
Yesterday, ex-Drummond executive David Roberson and ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert reported to federal prison for criminal acts born at the offices of Balch & Bingham.
The Newsome Family
And while Baker is dead, the Newsome Conspiracy Case continues alive and vibrant. Having exhausted all state and federal court remedies, a federal civil RICO lawsuit can now proceed.
The RICO will most likely come after additional indictments are handed down.
Like probate lawyers, sensible and responsible Balch leaders would have brought the Newsome Conspiracy Case, the David Roberson civil lawsuit, and other matters to an agreeable resolution and a close after Baker’s death.
Since 2017, we have asked Balch to conduct a top to bottom review of their firm, get rid of any bad apples, and apologize to the African-American community of North Birmingham.
In the summer of 2018, Balch, during a brief moment of mental clarity, attempted to reach out to us to bring matters to a close.
The former Assistant U.S. Attorney who represented Burt Newsome was blind-sided since he did not know what BanBalch.com exactly was or who we, the CDLU, were when they asked him to serve as an interlocutor.
We wrote three years ago after Balch walked away from the resolution discussions:
Balch’s acts of impunity are no longer tolerated by the public; and acts of contrition, reconciliation, and forgiveness are the only path forward to salvage the firm.
Obviously someone with common sense at Balch & Bingham tried, in good faith, to reach out to us and put the matters behind them.
Instead, now, Balch & Bingham have reversed themselves and appears to be on a path of self-destruction.
The many honorable, ethical and professional Balch partners and their colleagues appear to have been ignored againby their leadership.
Prophetic.
Baker is dead, Gilbert is sitting in a federal prison, while Balch appears to be slowly hemorrhaging and dying.
Crosswhite
The Crosswhite Scandal involving Alabama Power is bringing a new, heated spotlight on ex-Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite, “the most powerful man in Alabama” according to his adoring fans.
The unsavory if not criminal conduct linked to alleged secret indemnity agreements is the cherry on top of a spoiled, rotten, inedible banana pudding full of maggots.
Will Balch ever come to their senses? Ever? Or will Balch partners continue to swallow the rotten pudding left behind a year ago?
There was a time in Crosswhite’s life when he stopped playing with Hot Wheels, going to keg parties, and binging on The Godfather movies.
[This post was originally published two years ago on October 28, 2019. Now with the Crosswhite Scandal growing and alleged secret indemnity agreements creating turmoil, this post was prophetic. Insiders allege that Balch is calling the shots because of alleged skeletons in Crosswhite’s walk-in closet.]
Matthew Bowden, a former Balch & Bingham partner, was the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Alabama Power (pictured left). He was allegedly a pillar of integrity, and respected and beloved by many.
Sadly, less than two weeks after Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson were indicted, Bowden died unexpectedly in October of 2017 from complications of an ankle injury.
At Matt’s funeral, Bowden’s father, Travis Bowden, the former CEO of Gulf Power, allegedly told David Roberson that “Matt loved him as a friend” and if Matt were alive he would have vigorously helped his friend fight the criminal charges.
Matt was not only a close friend to Roberson, he was also extremely close to Mark A. Crosswhite, the CEO of Alabama Power. Matt Bowden and Crosswhite had both worked at Balch.
But with the passing of Bowden, an era of close alliances and relationships began to crumble.
Alabama Power, possibly screwing over their “friends,” appears to have allegedly cut a secret deal with the Office of the U.S. Attorney not to testify during the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal trial, appearing to be the only contributor to do so even though Alabama Power donated a fat $30,000 to the money-laundering entity, the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE).
Roberson became the “fall guy” and the rest is history.
Twelve days ago, on the early morning of October 16, we wrote about the intimate details of how Crosswhite and David Roberson crossed paths at La Paz Restaurant a few months back.
Crosswhite, who never replied to an email from Roberson, let those around him know about the email. Soon the email, and Crosswhite’s alleged betrayal, was the talk of high circles of the elite enclave of Alabama: Mountain Brook.
The Brookies couldn’t contain themselves and “salivated with each sweet morsel” of gossip about Crosswhite, his alleged mocking of the Robersons, and his alleged betrayal of confidentiality.
Crosswhite is not from Mountain Brook.
He is a product of hard-working, middle-class parents from Decatur, Alabama. And no matter how wealthy or successful you may be, many Brookies, who suffer from the Plantation mentality, will never accept you as one of them.
Will Crosswhite, the “most powerful man in Alabama,” be the next “fall guy” for the corrupt state of affairs in Alabama?
Will the arrogant Brookies toss him to the wolves like they did Roberson?
While Balch & Bingham, Drummond, and their alleged corrupt allies in the Alabama judicial system may be contemplating more acts of gross injustice, eagle eyes are watching and bat ears are listening to every move, every exchange, every motion.
The reactions to our La Paz post from October 16 were eye-popping.
That same afternoon, Balch & Bingham filed a request in Roberson’s $50 million lawsuit against Drummond and Balch, demanding a Status Conference specifically about a Motion to Dismiss.
A week later, Balch followed up by re-filing a Motion to Dismiss from June with pages upon pages of the transcript from the May hearing, essentially badgering the judge.
The keystone cops at Balch & Bingham obviously did not think this through, since Balch believes they “owed no duty” to Roberson, not even to tell him the truth.
There was a time in Crosswhite’s life when he stopped playing with Hot Wheels, going to keg parties, and binging on The Godfather movies.
Likewise, there was a point where Crosswhite became his own man, a successful corporate executive who was no longer a partner at Balch & Bingham.
But Balch & Bingham appears not to care.
Some of the Brookies affiliated with Balch probably despise Crosswhite’s middle-class pedigree. Crosswhite worked summers as a “pool maintenance” worker as a teenager and college student.
Balch is now calling the shots and appears to be making the dumbest moves as they yank on the umbilical cord.
Why has Crosswhite imploded? Should he not lead and denounce the Culture of Hate and Balch’s acts of sheer stupidity? Even in private?
Consider some of the examples of the Culture of Hate:
Jeffrey H. Wood, the former Balch partner and lobbyist for Alabama Power who was ousted from the U.S. Department of Justice, had his fingerprints all over the effort to suppress African-Americans from having their toxic and contaminated property tested by the EPA.
We doubt Matt would ever agree that Balch “owed no duty” to his friend David Roberson.
And what would Matt say to Mark who looks like he has let his former employer, Balch, call the shots in this ugly, ever-growing drama?
Working behind the scenes, Bowden would have abruptly brought these matters to a close, to an end, and restore the alliance of friends, regardless if they were Brookies or not.
Sadly, Crosswhite’s career up the corporate ladder at Southern Company appears to have stalled in Alabama.
The “most powerful man in Alabama” appears to be being trampled on by the stooges at Balch & Bingham who appear not to even consider him an equal.
Clearly Crosswhite must cut that umbilical cord and circumcise the loose tongues at Balch & Bingham.
We are told that convicted felon and Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert and ex-Drummond Executive David Roberson must report to federal prison before the end of October.
The news is devastating for Balch as they have been hammered in recent weeks by an alleged pedophile arrest of an ex-Balch attorney, who solicited a child online.
With an alleged elderly exploitation scandal, an alleged housing assistance debacle in Mississippi, and allegations of racism rocking the embattled firm, Balch is hurting from all sides.
Images of the convicted felons entering prison will sadly not rehabilitate Balch’s damaged and tarnished reputation.
Gilbert is to serve 5 years while Roberson will serve half the amount, 30 months, for the criminal scheme known as the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal.
We believe the Biden Administration will take a deeper look at the Three Stooges (Alabama Power, Balch, and Drummond Company).
As we wrote in March:
North Birmingham appears to have been a side-show, a distraction to the the real objective: squashing the tiny environmental group GASP before the group could start probing the Miller Steam Plant, one of the biggest greenhouse polluting, coal-burning plants in the nation, according to recent news reports.
We, the CDLU, are not environmentalists.
However, having investigated numerous unsavory businesses and inept government agencies in the past two decades, we understand that something at the Miller Steam Plant in Jefferson County made Alabama Power [Balch’s sister-wife] concerned, gravely concerned.
The rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, other federal investigations, a possible SCOTUS hearing, and an eventual RICO lawsuit will eventually come to fruition, but Gilbert and Roberson will be out of pocket, dandily dressed in prison orange.
The criminal convictions in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal stand solid.
Last week, the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit unanimously denied an en banc rehearing of the convictions of ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson.
On Saturday, when David Roberson went to visit his son who is in college, the older Roberson was rushed to the hospital. An emergency surgery was performed to remove an intestinal blockage allegedly caused by the enormous, unsurmountable stress.
Stress and anxiety are linked to gastrointestinal problems, including blockage.
The Roberson Family
And who wouldn’t be stressed and full of anxiety after allegedly being set-up as the “Fall Guy” in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal and seeing your life, fortune, and family destroyed by the alleged lies and misrepresentations of embattled law firm Balch & Bingham?
Think about it.
Just imagine if you were forced to sell the family home, forced to hold an estate sale to liquidate your personal possessions, unable to pay for prescription drugs, and headed to federal prison because a law firm lied to you.
Although we have never met David Roberson, we, the CDLU, sympathize with his plight.
Balch defenders went a step deeper in the manure. Balch stooges had the sheer stupidity to terrorize the wrong family at the wrong address in an utterly failed campaign of lies against the CDLU last summer.
Now, we ask, when will he and convicted felon Joel I. Gilbert report to federal prison?
Reality hurts, doesn’t it?
Our dearest readers, we hope you and yours had a wonderful summer break. We have so much to report about from the Matrix Meltdown to elderly exploitation, from SCOTUS filings to Alabama Power’s direct link to staged actors, from questionable campaign contributions to alleged judicial corruption. Please check in regularly. Thank you for reading and sharing our posts.
Three years ago today, Balch-made millionaire and esteemed partner Joel I. Gilbert was convicted on all six-federal charges, including bribery and money laundering.
Will Gilbert be reporting to prison soon, now that he has lost his appeal?
If Gilbert had reported to prison during his appeal, due to COVID-19, he probably would have been released early like the bought-and-paid-for ex-State Representative Oliver Robinson was.
Roberson and Gilbert
Instead, he’ll probably now have to serve the entire 5-year sentence. Convicted along side Gilbert was ex-Drummond Executive David Roberson who will serve two and a half years. In his early 70s, some ask, is this a death sentence?
Gilbert, who apologized to Roberson during his sentencing hearing, was on Balch’s payroll untilthe day he was convicted. What other secret deals, non-disclosure agreements, guarantees, and pay-outs are hidden behind public view?
Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town resigned months after we, the CDLU, filed our formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice with jaw-dropping photographic evidence of his inappropriate meeting with ex-Balch partner and Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite.
Interestingly, Drummond Company has goose-stepped with Balch since February of 2019 and their actions raise the question, Why?
A fiercely independent coal company marches tightly with an embattled law firm, an alleged racist law firm. Why?
The Three Stooges (Drummond Company, Balch, and Alabama Power) fiercely sought protective orders last December in the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit.
Roberson’s case has since been sealed in its entirety in a secretive Star Chamber.
Why?
We believe that alleged criminal acts, unsavory conduct, secret deals, and possible pay-outs are being hidden from public view.
Gilbert’s conviction was a tremendous sting. His only long-term employer was Balch & Bingham, the sister-wife of Alabama Power, and his last big client was Drummond Company.
If Gilbert knows more about the alleged secret deals, pay-outs, and hidden agreements, maybe he needs to sing to the federal investigators and shave off some of that five-year sentence.
ilcher said he warned Gilbert that Robinson could not use his official position or letterhead to help. Gilbert, documents show, edited Robinson’s position into letters sent In Robinson’s name.
The “staged arrest” of a Balch competitor was done by a 
