Alabama mayor arrested on bribery, fraud charges

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 U.S. 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, which was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

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.

U.S. 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.

Langford left the county commission after being elected mayor in a landslide last year, and he since has become known for a series of outside-the-box ideas aimed at trying to breathe new life into an old steel city-turned-medical hub.

He walked into a business meeting with two police officers carrying submachine guns, props meant to generate interest in his "top secret" finance plans and announced a longshot bid to bring the 2020 Olympics to Birmingham, even though the city doesn't even have a major sports franchise.

Critics of his grandiose ideas have called him "Mayor LaLa." However, the former promoter and television reporter has been unapologetic, saying it's his job to sell the city. Just last week he gave a $10,000 city consulting contract to a 13-year-old girl who appeared before council members to discuss improving parks.

Langford was arrested by FBI agents at a beer distributor where he also has a public relations job.

"I'm going to work today," Langford told reporters outside the courthouse after being freed on $50,000 bond. A Democrat, Langford has said for months that he expected to be indicted in what he referred to as a witchhunt by Republican prosecutors.