BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The mayor of Birmingham, Ala., pleaded innocent in federal court Monday to bribery and fraud charges in connection with a multibillion-dollar sewer bond deal.
Mayor Larry Langford is accused along with two others in a 101-count indictment that includes charges of money laundering and filing false tax returns stemming from deals and swaps when Langford was president of the Jefferson County Commission, the Birmingham News reports.
Charged along with Langford is Montgomery investment banker William Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre.
U.S. Magistrate Judge John Otts released Langford on $50,000 unsecured bond and ordered that he not travel outside the Northern District of Alabama without court approval.
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin described the case against the three men as a "classic pay to play scheme."
Martin charged Langford took cash, clothes and jewelry on numerous occasions in exchange for favoring bankers in county bond deals.
