Alabama mayor arrested on bribery charges in bond deals

Larry Langford is the mayor of Birmingham.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The mayor of Alabama's largest city was arrested yesterday on charges of steering millions of dollars of bond work to a friend in exchange for more than $230,000 in bribes to pay for an expensive wardrobe and flashy jewelry.

The bond deals - which funded years of work on a substandard county sewer system - went sour and have helped push surrounding Jefferson County to the brink of filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in US history.

The charges stem from Mayor Larry Langford's time on the Jefferson County Commission, where he served four years as president. He is accused of telling Wall Street giants JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers that they had to include his friend's investment banking firm on the deal if they wanted to handle the county's bond work.

Langford, his friend Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre were charged in a 101-count indictment. The charges include conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns. All three have pleaded not guilty.

US Attorney Alice Martin wouldn't say whether the firms were cooperating with the investigation, and the companies either didn't return a telephone message or declined comment.

"I'm going to work today," Langford said after being freed on $50,000 bond.

ASSOCIATED PRESS