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Prosecutors Sold Out Megan Rondini for Bunn Family Campaign Cash
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on July 4, 2017
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on July 4, 2017
Whenever there is a failure of criminal justice of the magnitude we have seen in Megan Rondini's alleged rape case, money has usually changed hands at the top of the law enforcement chain. This is exactly what happened between the Terry Jackson Bunn family interests and Tuscaloosa County District Attorneys Lyn Head and Hays Webb.
ST Bunn Construction Company, Inc., which is owned and controlled by brothers Sonny Bunn and Terry Bunn, Sr., funneled thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Head and Webb through two Tuscaloosa-based political action committees ("PACs"). The money began flowing after Megan lodged rape charges with Tuscaloosa Sheriff's investigators against Terry Bunn's son, T.J. "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr.
Robert Bentley, Alabama's disgraced former governor, appointed Lyn Head to the district attorney's job in 2013. Head formed a campaign committee on January 8, 2015, in connection with her bid to run for a full term in office. Hays Webb opposed Head in a hotly contested Republican primary and won.
Where Influence Peddling is Suspected, Always Follow the Money
Lyn Head raised $63,805 in cash contributions for her election. Two PACs were responsible for funneling at least $22,650, or 35.5%, of this amount to Head's campaign account, according to financial reports on file in the Alabama Secretary of State's office. These PACs are registered as CMG PAC II and T-Town PAC II.
Tuscaloosa accountant Mike Echols, Governor Bentley's former friend and gubernatorial campaign finance manager in 2010 and 2014, chaired both PACs. Joshua Taylor was the named Treasurer for both PACs.
CMG PAC II and T-Town II were the Tuscaloosa oligarchy's PACs of choice for funneling money to Lyn Head. They were also tied to Bunn family money.
The cash from these PACs started flowing to Head on August 4, 2015, approximately one month after Megan filed her rape report. Head received $400 of S T Bunn Construction Company's $3,750 cash contribution to T-Town PAC II on the same date. Prior to receiving this money, Mike Echols' CMG Consulting Group, Inc., had already given Head $1,000 in cash on March 17, 2015.
ST Bunn Construction Company made additional cash contributions to T-Town PAC II on November 13, 2015, in the amount of $5,000 and again on December 18, 2015, in the amount of $3,000. Lyn Head received $2,500 of the December 18th contribution in cash on December 29, 2015. T-Town PAC II made a $500 cash contribution to Head on April 15, 2016, even though she had already lost her race.
Sweet T, who privately refers to himself as the "Bubble Bath Bandit", contributed $500 to T-Town PAC II on February 5, 2016. His $500 in cash was delivered to Lyn Head on April 14, 2016.
ST Bunn Construction Company contributed $1,000 to CMG PAC II on December 18, 2015. The PAC's financial reports show that this $1,000 was funneled to Head, on a dollar for dollar basis, on January 26, 2016. On January 27, 2016, Head reported receiving $10,000 from CMG PAC II. On February 8, 2016, Head reported receiving another $7,500 in cash from CMG PAC II. On March 17, 2016, Head reported receiving $1,750 in cash from CMG PAC II.
In late July of 2015, Lyn Head informed the Rondini family that she was closing Megan's rape case. Megan committed suicide on February 26, 2016. A few weeks after Megan's sad and tragic death, Head presented her rape case to a local grand jury. By that time, Head had already accepted the December 18th $1,000 Bunn cash that was laundered through CMG PAC II. As one would expect under the circumstances, no rape indictment was returned in the case. Afterwards, Sweet T's $500 contribution to T-Town PAC II was delivered to Head, who willingly accepted it, as well.
Because grand jury proceedings in Alabama are secret, it is not known whether Lyn Head disclosed her financial conflicts of interest to the grand jurors. Also, it is not known what "spin" Head put on the grand jury evidence to make Megan's rape case go away.
After Head lost her election bid, and following her presentation of Megan's case to the grand jury, CMG PAC II delivered its final installment of $1,750 in campaign cash to Lyn Head. This payout occurred on March 17, 2016.
On August 7, 2016, Governor Bentley appointed Head to a seat on the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board, where she serves today. This was Head's second gubernatorial appointment from Bentley, who is now a convicted criminal.
DA Hays Webb Took Bunn Cash, As Well
After defeating Lyn Head in the Republican primary, DA Hays Webb started taking Bunn campaign cash, as well. The money was funneled through T-Town PAC II.
ST Bunn Construction Company sent $2,500 to this PAC on August 31, 2016. Two days later, $1,000 of this money was funneled to Webb. He received another $3,750 in cash on September 13, 2016, and a final installment of $1,590 in cash on December 6, 2016.
Weak, Compromised and Tainted Prosecutors
Lyn Head and Hays Webb took laundered campaign cash from Bunn family interests after Megan became Sweet T's alleged crime victim. Inexplicably, Head and Webb, both individually and collectively, failed to recuse themselves from any and all involvement in Megan Rondini's rape case, as required by their financial conflicts of interest with the Bunn family. Furthermore, Head and Webb never disclosed their respective financial conflicts of interest to Megan's family.
The deck was stacked against 20-year old Megan Rondini from the moment she entered the Tuscaloosa criminal justice system as an alleged rape victim. She never had a fair shot at criminal justice in her case. Megan was bullied, betrayed, failed, and disserved by law enforcement officials throughout her entire ordeal as an alleged rape victim. Yet, she fought for justice inside of this rigged system until she had nothing left inside of her.
Whatever evidence Megan had supporting her allegations of rape against Sweet T apparently made no difference to Lyn Head and Hays Webb while they were chasing campaign dollars from rich donors. The acceptance of Bunn family campaign cash -- even from the alleged rapist -- effectively compromised and tainted Head and Webb.
Finally, Attorney General Steve Marshall, another Bentley appointee, has been missing in action in Megan's case. Reportedly, this case is too hot and deep for Marshall. He is known to run from high profile, controversial criminal cases involving members of the powerful Alabama oligarchy. Marshall is also focused on cultivating big-money campaign donors for his election next year.
Stay tuned. It only gets worse from here.
