JEFFERSON COUNTY SEWER CONTRACTORS & ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF
JEFFERSON COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES SENTENCED

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Two contractors and a former county employee were sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Propst for bribery and conspiracy connected to their work on the Jefferson County sewer system. At hearings which started on April 17, 2007, and continued through late yesterday, Judge Propst imposed the following sentences:

William H. Dawson, 46, of Birmingham, operated Dawson Engineering, Inc., which received over $20 million in "no-bid" engineering contracts from Jefferson County and its Environmental Services Department. He was sentenced to four months in prison and four months of home detention, ordered to pay a fine of $35,000, and will serve two years of supervised release. Dawson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. He conspired with former Jefferson County Commissioner Chris McNair to corruptly give things of value to McNair, in order to influence McNair to support Dawson's interests in awarding sewer engineering and construction contracts. In this case, Dawson provided McNair with an audio-visual system valued at $16,400 for McNair's photography studio. At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors asked the court to give Dawson a reduced sentence because Dawson cooperated in the government's investigation and testified at the trial of other defendants charged in the bribery scheme.

Harry T. Chandler, 50, of Birmingham, former Assistant Director of the Jefferson County Environmental Services Department, was sentenced to two years probation, ordered to pay a fine of $33,000, and will serve two years supervised release. Chandler pleaded guilty to conspiring to corruptly accept trips and landscaping worth approximately $15,000 from Roland Pugh Construction Inc., with the intent to influence and reward Chandler for giving favorable treatment to Pugh in the awarding of county sewer contracts. In requesting that Chandler receive a reduced sentence, prosecutors told the court that Chandler had provided investigators new information about participants in the sewer bribery scheme, had recorded conversations with other defendants, testified in court, and had been a "model" of what it means to cooperate with an ongoing investigation.

Grady R. Pugh, Jr., 49, of Tuscaloosa, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Roland Pugh Construction Company, was sentenced to five months in prison and five months home detention, was ordered to pay a $2 million dollar fine, and will serve three years of supervised release. Pugh also paid $40,000 restitution claimed by the Jefferson County Commission. Pugh, Jr., pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery and providing things of value to former Commissioner McNair, and other Jefferson County Environmental Services employees in exchange for favorable treatment in the award of sewer rehabilitation contracts. Pugh and his father, Grady R. "Roland" Pugh Sr. were part owners of Roland Pugh Construction, Inc., a company which, according to evidence at trial, received over $85 millions dollars in sewer construction contracts from Jefferson County. The company was also convicted in the bribery scheme and is scheduled for sentencing later this month. Prosecutors requested a reduced sentence for Pugh Jr. because of his substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of other defendants in the sewer corruption scandal. When asked whether he had anything to say before sentence was pronounced, Pugh said he wanted to thank the government's prosecutors and investigators for "knocking me off the path I was on" and encouraging him to turn his life around. The court recalled that Pugh Jr. was "put through the ringer" during cross examination by the defense at trial, but the court's impression was that Pugh testified truthfully.

Grady R. "Roland" Pugh, Sr., 67, of Tuscaloosa, who is the Chairman of the Board and part owner of Roland Pugh Construction, Inc. was sentenced to 45 months in prison, ordered to pay $250,000 in fines. Pugh, Sr., was convicted of conspiracy to commit bribery following a jury trial. At trial testimony showed that the bribery scheme involving Pugh, Sr., included cash, land, and trips among other things of value for Jefferson County Officials in exchange for the award of sewer contracts.

"Bribery and corruption in the awarding of expensive government contracts corrodes public confidence and wastes taxpayer dollars," stated U.S. Attorney Alice H. Martin. "The Public Corruption Task Force hopes that these sentences will remind other public officials that "business as usual" must not include the receipt of favors or rewards from contractors seeking to do work for the government."

"The people of Alabama have a right to expect honest services from their public officials," Carmen S. Adams, Special Agent in Charge, Birmingham Field Division Federal Bureau of Investigation. "Unfortunately, some of the employees of the Jefferson County Environmental Services Department, like Mr. Chandler, abused their positions for private gain, undermining the integrity of all government operations. Public corruption remains the FBI's number one criminal priority and the citizens of Alabama can be assured the FBI will continue to look into all allegations of wrongdoing by public officials."

The investigation of this matter was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of this matter was conducted by Department of Justice Trial Attorneys William D. Dillion and Deana Timberlake-Wiley.