Mayor arrested on bribery, fraud charges

The mayor of Alabama’s largest city, Larry Langford, was arrested Monday on federal bribery and fraud charges connected to a multibillion-dollar sewer bond deal that has driven the surrounding county to the brink of bankruptcy.

Federal prosecutors in Birmingham said Langford, Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre were charged in the 101-count indictment released Monday. The charges also include money laundering and filing false tax returns.

Langford is accused of receiving $230,000 in bribes from Blount, some of them routed through LaPierre, to influence the bond deals while Langford was president of the Jefferson County Commission. Blount’s firm made $7.1 million in fees from the bond work.

The three men have denied any wrongdoing in the face of similar allegations contained in a lawsuit by federal regulators.

Langford, 60, was taken into custody at about 7 a.m. Monday, FBI spokesman Paul Daymond said. Langford was president of the Jefferson County Commission before he was elected mayor last year. Birmingham is in Jefferson County.