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Is Alabama Tough on Public Corruption?
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on April 23, 2017
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on April 23, 2017
State prosecutors fumbled their high-profile case criminal case against former Alabama governor Robert Bentley two weeks ago. They reduced four felony ethics violations to two misdemeanor offenses and allowed Bentley to end his public corruption crime spree with a simple resignation from office, probation, community service, and a small fine. No jail time was imposed upon Bentley. It was "sweetheart" plea deal for Alabama's most notorious public corruption crook.
For good measure, prosecutors even allowed Rebekah Caldwell Mason, Bentley's married girlfriend and partner in crime, to go free. Bentley, who had professed his love for Mason on a secretly recorded audiotape released last year, insisted upon it.
Bentley's handpicked attorney general, Steve Marshall, specifically approved of this generous plea deal for a serial white-collar criminal. Bentley was very pleased with the deal. The smile on Bentley's face in his mugshot reflects his joy with the plea deal.
Prosecutors hope to rebound from the embarrassing debacle involving Robert Bentley's plea deal by announcing a host of indictments against a group of state and local government officials in Jefferson County, Alabama. These indictments have been in the works since last October and could be announced before the end of the month. The soon-to-be JeffCo defendants include: (a) local Birmingham city council members, (b) past and present members of city boards and agencies, (c) at least one vendor associated with these boards, and (d) a few Jefferson County-area lawmakers.
Unlike the "powder puff" treatment prosecutors gave Bentley after getting on their knees and caving-in to all of the former governor's demands, prosecutors are expected to hit the local JeffCo officials very hard. Interestingly, the amount of money involved in the new indictments pales in comparison to the amount Bentley stole from taxpayers, campaign donors, and "dark money" contributors during his multi-year crime spree.
Prosecutors will use the ethics violation cases of the local JeffCo officials to send a message to the public that they are "tough" on public corruption. Steve Marshall has personally approved the indictments.
Prosecutors know that most of the JeffCo defendants will not have the relationships, resources, or money to aggressively fight the criminal charges. These defendants are viewed as "low hanging fruit" from a prosecutorial standpoint. No defendant who pleads guilty is expected to get the "Robert Bentley" sweetheart plea deal. That deal was reserved for Bentley – the man who appointed Steve Marshall to his AG's job.
Is Alabama tough on crime? It depends on who is involved.
Unfortunately for the JeffCo officials, they did not occupy the state's highest executive office and did not get a chance to handpick the state's attorney general. Bentley did. They did not have Rebekah Mason as a girlfriend. Bentley did.
The JeffCo officials must go to jail. Bentley and his girlfriend are walking around free.
This is Alabama's version of being "tough" on crime. It's all in who you are and who you know. Just ask Robert Bentley.
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