Jack Williams’ lawyer believes his case will not go to trial, will end favorably
Vestavia Hills-Republican, longtime State Rep.Jack Williams‘ lawyer reportedly does not believe Williams’ case will go to trial and that whatever the solution it will end favorably for him. Williams, along with former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Martin “Marty” Connors, California-based health care executive G. Ford Gilbert were arrested in April on federal bribery charges. This week, a new defendant was added to the case. Outgoing Daphne-Republican State Rep. Randy Davis was also indicted on Wednesday by a feral grand jury on charges of bribery and conspiracy. In light of the new filing against Davis, Williams’ attorney Jake Watson told AL.com he expects to see a resolution soon, and that Williams could avoid the trial currently scheduled for September 4. “All I can say is that we are in the process of resolving the previous indictment. And I would think it will be resolved within the next few weeks,” Watson continued. “I expect it to be resolved in a manner that is favorable to the government and to Mr. Williams.” According to the indictment originally filed in April, Defendant Gilbert is the owner of a California company that operates diabetes treatment centers throughout the world—Trina Health, LLC (Trina Health). In 2014 and 2015, Trina Health opened three clinics in Alabama. Soon thereafter, the state’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (a.k.a. Blue Cross), informed Trina Health that it would not cover the treatments provided by them. Gilbert then schemed to force Blue Cross to change its position. He came up with a plan to push a bill through the Alabama Legislature’s 2016 session that would require Blue Cross to cover the treatments. Gilbert then made payments to State of Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon in exchange for his efforts on behalf of the bill. Gilbert also hired Defendant Connors to act as a lobbyist on behalf of the bill. Connors knew of Gilbert’s payments to Majority Leader Hammon. Hammon and Connors then recruited Defendant Williams, the chairman of the Commerce and Small Business Committee of the Alabama House of Representatives, to hold a public hearing on the bill. Williams also knew of the payments to Hammon and acted in part to help Hammon, who, as everyone in the scheme knew, was experiencing grave financial problems. The indictment does not include charges against Hammon since he has already been convicted in federal court of other offenses related to mail fraud and misusing campaign funds. Williams plead “not guilty” in a federal arraignment later in April. “I have done nothing wrong, and once the facts are presented, I expect to be found innocent by a jury of all the allegations outlined in Monday’s indictment,” he said in a statement. If convicted, Williams faces up to 20 years in prison.
Former State Rep. Micky Hammon released from prison
Former Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon was released from federal prison Thursday, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. The Decatur-Republican was sentenced to three months in prison on charges relating to mail fraud back in February. Hammon pleaded guilty on felony charges in September to devising a scheme to commit mail fraud involving his campaign funds. During his sentencing he was ordered to pay $50,657 in restitution for the crimes, which will be distributed to his campaign contributors, and was sentenced to three months in federal prison and three years supervised release. He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years. According to court documents, Hammon used campaign money to pay his own personal expenses as part of a mail fraud scheme. In 2013, he created a principal campaign committee through the Secretary of States Office allowing him to raise funds for his reelection campaign. He was writing checks from his campaign committee account and then depositing them into his personal account. He later used the funds to pay for personal expenses, which is strictly prohibited by Alabama campaign finance rules. As a result of pleading guilty to a felony, Hammon was automatically removed from his House seat in the state House. He had represented the 4th district in the Alabama House since 2002 and served as the House of Representative’s majority leader until Feb. 2017.
In special election to replace Micky Hammon, single digit turnout expected
A special election is being held in Morgan and Limestone counties Tuesday to replace former Rep. Micky Hammon for the Alabama House District 4 seat. Election officials say they expect voter turnout to be in the single digits. “I think people are just set on June 5 and I think they’ve just forgotten about this one,” chief clerk in the Morgan County Probate Office, Kate Terry told Decatur Daily. Hammon was removed from office last year after pleading guilty to using campaign funds for personal expenses in September. He was then ordered to forfeit nearly $51,000 for reimbursement to those who had donated to his campaign. Hammon was then sentenced to three months in prison, and three years supervised released for felony mail fraud in February of this year. Three candidates, Democrat Juanita Allen Healy, Republican Parker Duncan Moore and independent Polan “Pete” Willis Jr. are seeking to replace hammon. The winner of the special election must immediately begin campaigning again for the November election, to win a full four-year term. Moore will face Tom Fredricks in the June 5 primary, although he defeated Fredricks in the special February Republican runoff. Healy is chairwoman of the “One Decatur” comprehensive plan project, and has been a Decatur resident for 13 years. Lifelong Decatur resident, Moore is also a member of the Development Council with Huntsville Hospital, and is currently the North Alabama Marketing Representative for Encore Rehabilitation. Independant Willis is sending in a petition to get on the ballot. A business owner, Willis has operated an Aerospace Manufacturing firm in Priceville since 1982.
Alabama legislator Jack Williams, ex-GOP chair Marty Connors arrested on federal bribery charges
Vestavia Hills-Republican, longtime State Rep. Jack Williams, former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Martin “Marty” Connors, along with a California-based health care executive G. Ford Gilbert were arrested Monday on federal bribery charges. “Three individuals — two of whom reside in Alabama and one who resides in California — were arrested on charges stemming from their involvement in a public corruption scheme,” said United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr. in a press release. According to the indictment, Defendant Gilbert is the owner of a California company that operates diabetes treatment centers throughout the world—Trina Health, LLC (Trina Health). In 2014 and 2015, Trina Health opened three clinics in Alabama. Soon thereafter, the state’s largest health insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama (a.k.a. Blue Cross), informed Trina Health that it would not cover the treatments provided by them. Gilbert then schemed to force Blue Cross to change its position. He came up with a plan to push a bill through the Alabama Legislature’s 2016 session that would require Blue Cross to cover the treatments. Gilbert then made payments to State of Alabama House Majority Leader Micky Hammon in exchange for his efforts on behalf of the bill. Gilbert also hired Defendant Connors to act as a lobbyist on behalf of the bill. Connors knew of Gilbert’s payments to Majority Leader Hammon. Hammon and Connors then recruited Defendant Williams, the chairman of the Commerce and Small Business Committee of the Alabama House of Representatives, to hold a public hearing on the bill. Williams also knew of the payments to Hammon and acted in part to help Hammon, who, as everyone in the scheme knew, was experiencing grave financial problems. “Based on these events, the indictment charges all three defendants with conspiracy to commit bribery related to federal programs, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and honest services wire fraud,” wrote Franklin. “Additionally, the indictment alleges that Gilbert and Connors committed the substantive offense of bribery related to federal programs. Gilbert alone is charged with wire fraud, health care fraud, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering.” The indictment does not include charges against Hammon since he has already been convicted in federal court of other offenses related to mail fraud and misusing campaign funds. If convicted, the men face up to 20 years in prison. Gov. Kay Ivey weighed in on the indictment Monday afternoon following a speech in Huntsville, Ala. “There’s just no place for corruption in our great state. And so the Justice Department, the FBI, they’ve just got to go ahead and ferret out what needs to be explored because we cannot tolerate corruption,” Ivey told AL.com. “I just pointed out (during her speech in Huntsville) that the people of Alabama, the morale was very low because they had been misled by their leader and lost faith in the government. So I’ve tried my best to restore faith and trust in the government and operate an open, transparent administration.” The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated the case with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan S. Ross and Joshua Wendell are prosecuting the case. This is a developing story and will continue to be added to.
Former State Rep. Micky Hammon sentenced on mail fraud charges
Former Alabama House Majority Leader and Decatur-Republican Micky Hammon was sentenced to three months in prison on Thursday on charges relating to mail fraud. Hammon pleaded guilty on felony charges in September to devising a scheme to commit mail fraud involving his campaign funds. During Thursday’s sentencing he was ordered to pay $50,657 in restitution for the crimes, which will be distributed to his campaign contributors, and was sentenced to three months in federal prison and three years supervised release. He faced a maximum sentence of 20 years. According to court documents, Hammon used campaign money to pay his own personal expenses as part of a mail fraud scheme. In 2013, he created a principal campaign committee through the Secretary of States Office allowing him to raise funds for his reelection campaign. He was writing checks from his campaign committee account and then depositing them into his personal account. He later used the funds to pay for personal expenses, which is strictly prohibited by Alabama campaign finance rules. Hammon is expected to turn himself in to the Federal Bureau of Prisons in March. As a result of pleading guilty to a felony, Hammon was automatically removed from his House seat in the state House. He had represented the 4th district in the Alabama House since 2002 and served as the House of Representative’s majority leader until Feb. 2017.
3 Republicans, 1 Democrat qualify for state house vacancy
Three Republicans and one Democrat have qualified as candidates to replace an Alabama lawmaker who faces up to 20 years in prison for involvement in a felony mail fraud scheme. The Decatur Daily reports that Republicans Tom Fredricks, Parker Duncan Moore and Tom Willis met the Tuesday deadline along with Juanita Allen Healy, the only Democrat to qualify. They’ll run for the District 4 seat in the state House of Representatives that was held by Micky Hammon. Party primaries will be on Dec. 12 with the general election on Feb. 27. The district covers parts of Morgan and Limestone counties. Hammon represented the district since 2002. He’ll be sentenced Jan. 11 after agreeing last month to plead guilty of converting his campaign contributions to a personal account. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
State Rep. Micky Hammon pleads guilty to mail fraud involving campaign funds
Longtime Alabama lawmaker, Decatur-Republican State Rep. Micky Ray Hammon, pleaded guilty on felony charges Monday to devising a scheme to commit mail fraud involving his campaign funds. United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin Sr. confirmed the news Tuesday morning. As a result of pleading guilty to a felony, Hammon was automatically removed from his House seat. Governor Kay Ivey has yet to set a date for a special election to replace him. According to court documents, Hammon, who has represented the 4th district in the Alabama House since 2002 and served as the House of Representative’s majority leader until earlier this year, used campaign money to pay his own personal expenses as part of the scheme. In 2013, he created a principal campaign committee through the Secretary of States Office allowing him to raise funds for his reelection campaign. He was writing checks from his campaign committee account and then depositing them into his personal account. He later used the funds to pay for personal expenses, which is strictly prohibited by Alabama campaign finance rules. “Self-dealing by elected officials erodes society’s confidence in its governmental institutions,” said Franklin Sr. “Self-dealing is precisely what occurred here. Those who donated to Representative Hammon’s campaign expected that the campaign would use those resources lawfully and to foster an informative public debate. Instead, Representative Hammon placed those funds into his own personal piggy bank. “I am proud of my office’s efforts to root out this corruption and I am most grateful for the tireless work of the United States Postal Inspection Service, which investigated this case. I hope that this prosecution will, in some small way, restore Alabamians’ trust in their state legislature.” United States District Attorney Myron H. Thompson will sentence Hammon in the months ahead. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Republican leaders outline 2016 “Right for Alabama” agenda
Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn), alongside Majority Leader Micky Hammon (R-Decatur) and Rep. Donnie Chesteen (R-Geneva), held a press conference Thursday to lay out the Republican agenda for the upcoming legislative session. Titled “Right for Alabama,” the agenda lays out state Republicans’ priorities for the upcoming session. “Our ‘Right for Alabama’ agenda focuses on important issues like job creation, protecting public school students from harm, demanding the dignity that unborn life deserves, and other vital initiatives,” Hubbard said in a press release. “It also continues Alabama’s on-going fight against wrong-headed federal policies that would erode our constitutionally protected gun rights and force the state to accept thousands of potentially dangerous and unchecked Syrian refugees.” The first item on the agenda, and the one that all three legislators agree is most important, is a “zero-based budgeting reform,” which requires state agencies to account for each dollar received, identify ineffective programs and save or redirect taxpayer money. According to Hubbard, both the general fund and education budgets will be the first items addressed in the upcoming session. State Republicans also planb to address pension reform in an effort to “ensure the long-term solvency and fiscal health of the Retirement Systems of Alabama” and preserve the current level of benefits retirees earn. The Alabama Taxpayer Advocate Act would change a current statute, which requires the Alabama Department of Revenue to select a person from its ranks to serve as Taxpayer Advocate, to allow the governor to select the advocate from a pool of qualified candidates. The Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit would provide a $1,500 tax to small businesses for “every new, qualified employee hired by small businesses operating within the state.” Alabama’s Right to Work Constitutional Amendment will enshrine Alabama’s status as a “Right to Work” within the state constitution, declaring that Alabama is “open for business.” Republicans will also offer legislation aimed at “protecting public safety from Syrian refugee threats” and will assist members of the national Republican Party in “overturning Brack Obama’s unconstitutional executive orders attacking out Second Amendment right to own firearms.” Republicans also plan to create a School Security and Student Safety Task Force, made up of education, law enforcement and emergency management officials, to conduct a “comprehensive review and assessment of state laws, regulations, and protocols relating to security and student safety.” Though none of the legislators present would specify the amount, state Republicans also plan to work on providing teachers with a pay raise and establish the Wireless Infrastructure Renovation for Education (WIRED) Act, which provide grants to local school systems for the “purchase, installation or upgrade of wireless infrastructure.” If successful, Alabama will become the first state in the nation to have wireless infrastructure at all of its schools. Last on Republicans’ agenda is the Unborn Infants’ Dignity of Life Act, which will outlaw “the sale of the bodily remains of unborn infants.”
