The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has declined to revoke broadcast licenses held by former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, the Montgomery Advertiser reported. The ruling stated that the commission’s Enforcement Bureau had not proven an intent to deceive on Hubbard’s part or that the convictions disqualified him from holding the licenses.
In 2016 a jury convicted Hubbard of 12 counts of violating the state ethics law, but six were overturned on appeal. Prosecutors accused Hubbard of leveraging his public office to obtain clients and investments for his businesses. His defense lawyers maintained the transactions were all legal.
He had remained free while appealing and reported to jail in September 2020. In September 2021, Hubbard filed a request for early release after serving one year of a 28-month sentence, apologizing for his ethics conviction and stating he had hurt the state and his family due to his actions.
“My conviction has severely damaged and embarrassed me and my family, friends, former constituents, community, church, the legislature, and the state of Alabama. For this, I am severely sorry and respectfully ask forgiveness from everyone affected,” Hubbard wrote.
Hubbard founded the Auburn Network in 1994 and is the sole stockholder. The Auburn Network holds licenses for WANI, an AM station in Opelika, and WGZZ, an FM station in Waverly in Lee and Chambers counties. The network also holds licenses for three FM stations that rebroadcast WGZZ and a construction permit for WHBD-LD in Auburn, a low-power television station.
The Enforcement Bureau argued that Hubbard used the Auburn Network to hide his consulting work from the Alabama Ethics Commission.
Judge Jane Hinckley Halprin disagreed, stating, “It is difficult to say that Mr. Hubbard has made remedial efforts or that he has been ‘rehabilitated’ given the progress of the criminal case and the fact that he is currently incarcerated. On the other hand, while the stations’ management technically participated in the felonies because Mr. Hubbard is the sole shareholder of licensee Auburn Network, there is no evidence that the stations themselves were involved.”
In the 21-page ruling, Halprin wrote that the convictions showed Hubbard “betrayed the trust of the public he was elected to serve.” However, she also stated that the Enforcement Bureau had not shown that Hubbard’s convictions meant he would act “dishonestly” with the FCC.
“The misdeeds of a public servant may indeed be relevant in gauging that person’s ability to serve the public interest as an FCC licensee, but in this particular case and under these particular circumstances, the evidence presented does not satisfy the burden of proof,” Halprin wrote.
Last December, Hubbard requested an evidentiary hearing on the letter of apology. However, Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker has not ruled on the motion. The earliest Hubbard can be released is January 8, 2023.
