Former lawmaker sentenced to year in prison for role in kickback scheme

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama lawmaker was sentenced Friday to a year in federal prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving state grant funds.

U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler sentenced former state Rep. Fred Plump to 12 months and a day in prison and three years of supervised release. Plump, a Democrat from Fairfield, last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges and resigned from the Alabama House of Representatives as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

The charges relate to before Plump took office. Prosecutors said Plump paid kickbacks from state grant funds allocated to his youth sports group by then-Rep. John Rogers. Plump took about $200,000 of the $400,000 that was allocated to his Piper Davis Youth Baseball League and gave it to Rogers’ legislative assistant, according to the plea agreement.

“We appreciate the government and Judge Coogler recognizing that coach did not personally profit from this arrangement, but he knew that the money going to his co-defendants was illegal,” Richard Jaffe, Plump’s defense lawyer, wrote in an email.

He said that “Plump looks forward to soon rejoining his family and continuing to help many more disadvantaged youth” through youth sports. Plump was also ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution.

Rogers, the lawmaker at the center of the alleged scheme, will be sentenced in federal court on Tuesday.

Rogers, a longtime fixture at the Alabama Legislature, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He also resigned as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

At the time of his resignation, Rogers was the longest-serving member of the Alabama House of Representatives. Rogers, a Democrat from Birmingham, was elected to the Alabama Legislature in 1982.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers are sparring over whether the 83-year-old Rogers should serve a 14-month sentence in a federal prison or in home confinement.

In the plea agreement, prosecutors said they would recommend a sentence of home confinement. But they later accused Rogers of violating his plea agreement by filing a court document that denied knowledge of the obstruction conspiracy. Rogers’ defense lawyer disputes that the plea agreement was violated and has asked for a hearing on the issue.

Three Alabama lawmakers have resigned during this four-year term after pleading guilty to a criminal charge. Former state Rep. David Cole, a Republican from Huntsville, last year pleaded guilty to a voter fraud charge that he rented a closet-size space in a home to fraudulently run for office in a district where he did not live.