FORMER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ALABAMA FIRE COLLEGE SENTENCED TO 125 MONTHS IN PRISON

BIRMINGHAM, AL - WILLIAM LUTHER LANGSTON, 66, the former Executive Director of the Alabama State Fire College was sentenced today by United States District Court Judge L. Scott Coogler to 125 months in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of  approximately $1,400,000.00, announced United States Attorney Alice H. Martin and Acting Alabama Attorney General Richard Minor. 

"This sentence demonstrates how serious these crimes were.  Langston’s stealing from funds benefitting volunteer firefighters, giving political friends’ children no-work jobs, and lining his pockets with public funds was simple greed and arrogance,” stated United States Attorney Alice H. Martin.                   

LANGSTON was found guilty in June, 2008, on a thirty-eight count indictment which charged mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and theft from an organization receiving federal funds.   The jury deliberated for approximately 3 hours, after an 8 day trial, before finding him guilty of all counts.    The restitution represents the amount diverted from state coffers that LANGSTON received  through all of the charged schemes listed in the indictment. 

LANGSTON is scheduled to report to prison on December 1, 2008.

"The sentencing today marks yet another victory for the citizens of the great State of Alabama,” stated Richard J. Minor, Acting Attorney General.   “Our citizens are fed up with those who raid the state treasury for their own personal greed, and we will continue to strive to vindicate those who want an honest government.”   

Langston was an Alabama state employee who served as the Executive Director for the Alabama Fire College (“Fire College”).   He was responsible for  the overall management of the Fire College and as such he signed contracts and obligated state funds for the Fire College.  The Fire College was created to provide vital training and certification for Alabama’s firefighters, paramedics, and other first responders.  It was located on the campus of Shelton State Community College (“Shelton State”), and Langston was on the payroll of Shelton State, which is an Alabama Department of Post Secondary Institution.

The Fire College created a private non-profit foundation whose purpose was to support the mission of the Fire College.  Langston served as the foundation’s President and as Chairman of the Alabama Fire College Foundation (“Foundation”) Board of Directors.

“There is no acceptable level of corruption. Those who would use tax payer dollars for their own personal gain should expect to reap the consequences of their actions. Let there be no mistake, the FBI will not cease in our pursuit of those who violate the public’s trust,” stated Special Agent in Charge, Carmen S. Adams, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"IRS Criminal Investigation is pleased with this sentence handed down today, as the prosecution of public officials who violate the public trust is a vital element in maintaining that trust," stated IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge, Reginael D. McDaniel.

Langston was found guilty of a mail and wire fraud scheme to defraud the Foundation.  Specifically, Langston used his various positions with the Fire College and its Foundation to divert Foundation funds of approximately $65,000 for  his personal benefit and for the benefit of family members and friends.   Langston diverted tens of thousands of dollars for merchandise for his personal use; $5,000 for each of his two grandsons; over $8,000 for his grandsons’ elementary school tuition and after school care; approximately $5,000 for appliances for his son’s new house in Millbrook; $7,500 for Gail Phillips, his former secretary who was recently convicted for stealing state money to repair her daughter’s house; and $335,000 for a residence he intended to make his personal home.

Langston was also found guilty of  conspiracy and theft from the State of Alabama involving the use of ghost employees from January of 1998 until June of 2006.  Specifically, Langston and coconspirators put relatives of friends on the Alabama Fire College payroll, and did not require them to provide services commensurate with their pay.  These employees were referred to as  “ghost employees.”  Langston prevented others at the Alabama Fire College from taking any action to remove these “ghost employees” from the payroll.  In addition, Langston obtained employment contracts and agreements for his two children at other Alabama Department of Post-Secondary institutions and provided documents and other assistance so that his relatives could obtain money from these institutions. 

Langston was found guilty for annually, from 2002 - 2005, appointing  Malinda Morgan as a “Curriculum Specialist” at the Alabama Fire College and causing Morgan to be paid $21,424 (2002-2005) and $18,924 (9/05 - 6/06) when in fact Morgan was a ghost or nominal employee who did little or no meaningful work.    Additionally, Langston was found guilty for a similar ghost or nominal employee scheme which annually appointed Steve Johnson as an “EMS Coordinator” for $49,444 from September 2002 - August 2004 and for raising the salaries of at least five Alabama Fire College employees by approximately $3,000 with the intent to request and in fact received $1,000 kickbacks from each employee.  These events occurred in 2001 - 2003.   Malinda Morgan and Steve Johnson are the children of Roy Johnson, the former chancellor of the State of Alabama Department of Post-Secondary Education.

Also, Langston was found guilty for  a scheme that, between December of 1999 and October of 2004,  involved the diversion of approximately $512,000 in Alabama Poison Center reimbursements owed to the Fire College into the Foundation account which Langston controlled.  The Alabama Poison Center is a statewide non-profit poison center located within the Alabama Fire College.  The Alabama Poison Center provided emergency poison management to Alabama residents and their health care providers.  The Director of the Alabama Poison Center reported to Langston. The State of Alabama would make appropriations to the Alabama Fire College to pay the salaries and other costs of the Alabama Poison Center.  The Alabama Poison Center’s salaries and other costs exceeded the State appropriation and it would reimburse the Alabama Fire College that amount.

Langston was also found guilty for  the diversion of discretionary funds directed by coconspirator Bryant Melton, a  former member of the Alabama House of Representatives.  These funds were diverted into the Foundation and then dispersed back to Melton through phony scholarships to Melton’s daughter. Melton has previously plead guilty in connection with this investigation.   Also, Langston was found guilty for  the diversion of State funds to the Woodbank project,  a house that the Shelton State Community College Foundation began building in May of 2003.  The house, in the Woodbank subdivision in Tuscaloosa County, was to serve as the residence of the President of Shelton State.  From May 2003 until August 2004,  Langston diverted approximately $100,000 of State money from the Fire College and Shelton State to pay for this house.  Langston and others attempted to conceal that State funds were being used by hiring contractors that did work for the Alabama Fire College or Shelton State to work on the house.

For several of the final Counts,  Langston was found guilty for the diversion of State funds to co-conspirator Robert Lloyd Nix through Access Group, Inc, a computer software firm that did business with the Fire College, and through  the Poison Center.  Co-conspirator James Winston Hayes was a principal owner of the Access Group.  Nix was a  longtime associate of Langston and Langston, through a series of fraudulent contracts with the Access Group diverted monies to Nix.   Langston also had the Poison Center Director employ Nix even though Nix had no real duties related to the Poison Center. Nix has previously plead guilty in connection with this investigation.                                                                                     

This investigation was conducted by members of the North Alabama Public Corruption Task Force which includes the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, Acting Alabama Attorney General Richard Minor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorneys George Martin, Tamarra Matthews-Johnson, and James Ingram with Special Assistant U. S. Attorney Bill Lisenby, on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the Web site of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama, www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln.  Related court documents maybe also be found on the Web site of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama at http://www.alnd.uscourts.gov.