A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: Bill Blount joins Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks
with a guilty plea.

Aug. 1 | We counted down the days to former mayor Larry Langford’s original Aug. 31 trial date with our greatest series ever, Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks. Seriously, look how many criminals we stuffed into one month …

• Mary Kay Beard | James Bevel | Bill Blount | Mary Buckelew | Rube Burrow
• Gregory Clarke | Matthew Cloyd, Russell DeBusk and Benjamin Moseley | Jeff Germany | Dedrick Griham | Richard Hawes
• The HealthSouth 16 | Virginia Hill | Troy Ingram | John Katopodis | Al LaPierre
• Don MacDermott | E.B. McClain | Jeff and Jessica McCord | Chris McNair | Danny Ray Miles
• Jack Montgomery | Samuel Pettagrue | Richard Scrushy | Don Siegelman | Lakendall Sims
• 16th Street Baptist Church bombers | Simon Speights | J.B. Stoner | Marvin Warner | Gary White

Who didn’t make the list? Langford, convicted Oct. 28. And pipe maker McWane Inc., whose latest fine is $4 million.

Aug. 10 | A juicy morsel: Wade on Birmingham had the exclusive scoop on the exclusive screening of the documentary “Food, Inc.” P.S. We love our news tipsters.

Aug. 11 | The dirge continued as we presented the Birmingham Heritage Festival lineup and demise in the same day. P.S. Never piss off Ludacris. Ever.

Aug. 25 | Our Vote 2009 coverage kicked into high gear with our extensive look at the Birmingham city council and board of education races. Later, we had results from all 18 races, nine of which were headed to runoffs.

Aug. 27 | The end of August also means the start of our monthlong coverage of the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, with an in-depth look at the local films plus the opening night documentary, “Best Worst Movie.”

See all of our August coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

football season: dear coach (Aug. 31)

Please take us to the
national championship
(or else, you’re fired).

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

A look back at all things and people and events 2009 …

Video: Birmingham moves closer
to building a domed stadium.

July 1 | John Katopodis, former politician and founder of a bogus children’s charity, not to mention a pal of former Birmingham mayor Larry Langford, was found guilty of fraud in federal court. He was originally to be sentenced in October, but that was delayed as he testified in Langford’s trial. And the dominoes continued to fall …

July 13 | Dr. Regina Benjamin becomes the nominee for surgeon general. We provide 10 facts about the Mobile native and UAB grad.

July 14 | The long-debated domed stadium received an annual $8 million boost from the city council, despite no approved 2010 city budget or even concrete figures. The $630 million project is scheduled to open in 2014.

July 31 | Area crime continues unabated, as Jefferson County is found dead, lying face down in a broken sewer. At this time, police have hundreds of suspects. The commissioners continue to wrestle with the occupational tax, despite numerous court rulings against it.

See all of our July coverage.

• • •

Haiku flashback

secured blanket (July 14)

Her red cape simply
a blanket wrapped as tightly
as a fond embrace.

• • •

365 days of Birmingham’s best and worst: Wade on 2009

In August, we’re celebrating Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks, whether they be liars, thieves, extortionists, swindlers or thugs. A 30-part series running daily until Birmingham mayor Larry Langford’s Aug. 31 Oct. 19 federal trial. Thanks to Bhamwiki for helping with this project.

John Katopodis

Positions held: president of Birmingham city Council; Jefferson County commissioner; chairman of the Birmingham Regional Planning Commission; secretary of the Alabama Republican Party; co-founder of nonprofit organization Computer Help for Kids along with Richard Scrushy and Langford

Wanted for: mail and wire fraud

Date of conviction: July 1

Sentence: To be sentenced Oct. 28. Katopodis, convicted on 97 counts, faces up to 20 years per count and forfeiture of $162,910.

Criminally fun fact: Katopodis wrote a couple of books while at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government: “Resegregation in the South: the Case of Sumter County, Georgia” (1975) and “Pre-school in Sweden: The Formation and Implementation of a National Policy” (1977).

Katopodis was involved in the founding of Southside’s EPIC School and the McWane Science Center, as well as leading the drive for the Alabama School of Fine Arts’ current facility, opened in 1993.

He had a ring made with the Kennedy family crest on it to present to John Kennedy Jr. in 1995. Katopodis hid it in a pouch of Red Man chewing tobacco, telling Kennedy, “It’s redneck Cracker Jack: There’s always a surprise inside.”

His downfall was from spending $250,000 of Computer Help for Kids’ $815,000 in donations.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: John Katopodis
• Crime Watch
• Meet more of Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks | RSS feed

• • •

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Subscribe to our free newsletter!

In August, we’re celebrating Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks, whether they be liars, thieves, extortionists, swindlers or thugs. Running daily until Birmingham mayor Larry Langford’s Aug. 31 federal trial. Thanks to Bhamwiki for helping with this project.

Richard Scrushy

Positions held: founder of Birmingham-based HealthSouth, TV talk show host

Wanted for: fraud and conspiracy (2005); bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud (2006)

Date of conviction: acquitted of 2005 charges, but convicted alongside former governor Don Siegelman on June 29, 2006.

Sentence: nearly 7 years in prison, then 3 years probation, $400,000 in fines plus up to $150,000 to repay cost of incarceration. On June 18, Scrushy lost a civil suit and was ordered to pay $2.87 billion.

Criminally fun fact: Scrushy set up a ministry in 2006 to feed African children and provide mortgages. He helped found the charity organization Computer Help for Kids with convicted former Birmingham pol John Katopodis and mayor Larry Langford; the charity employed gay porn star Ryan Idol as a computer technician for $30,000.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: Richard Scrushy
• Crime Watch
• Meet more of Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks | RSS feed

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? Subscribe to our free newsletter!

The sideshow is over. The main act begins soon.

Once a city council member and a Jefferson County commissioner, John Katopodis (shown at left) formed a children’s charity, Computer Help for Kids, with then-HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy and then-Fairfield mayor and friend Larry Langford.

Scrushy, already sentenced to prison, lost a civil decision in June and owes $2.87 billion. With a ‘B.’

Langford, now Birmingham’s mayor, awaits federal criminal trial on Aug. 25 facing charges of conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns alongside William Blount and Al LaPierre.

And Katopodis, for stealing money from the charity designed to bring computers to kids, was found guilty on all 97 counts of mail and wire fraud. The charity received money from the City of Birmingham and the Jefferson County Commission (during which time Langford served on the commission as member and as president).

But Langford is innocent until proven guilty.

Among the disbursements:

• Katopodis withdrew money in New Orleans casinos.
• He spent $250,000 on his friends.
• He bought a guitar and electric piano for Langford and arranged for a car to be sold to Langford.
• One check had the memo “TV Langford,” indicating a TV set purchased to give to Langford.

But Langford is innocent until proven guilty.

The issue surfaced in 2008 when HealthSouth filed a suit against Katopodis, which alleged charity money going to him, Langford and untrained computer technician/Playgirl centerfold/gay porn star Ryan Idol.

But Langford is innocent until proven guilty.

Katopodis is the fifth convicted former commissioner in the past three years, joining Mary Buckelew, Jeff Germany, Chris McNair and Gary White. He will be sentenced Oct. 28, facing up to 20 years per count and forfeiture of $162,910.

Langford is out on $50,000 bond. And he remains innocent until proven guilty.

Until proven guilty.

• Birmingham News: “John Katopodis guilty on all 97 counts in Birmingham federal court”
• Birmingham Business Journal: “Former JeffCo Commissioner Katopodis convicted of fraud”
• Birmingham Weekly: “Katopodis Found Guilty On All Counts”

Then and now

Does not compute: Back in his Fairfield days, Mayor Langford set up a charity with pals John Katopodis and Richard Scrushy to get computers to kids. Except that tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars went to him, Katopodis and a gay porn star. All of this came out in court as HealthSouth and Katopodis sued each other.

Both sides settled in March without revealing the terms of the deal. Frankly, plenty was revealed already.

Meanwhile, Langford’s latest effort to give computers to kids rolls on, having ordered an additional 14,000 laptops this week without Birmingham school board approval. The technology upgrades could cost millions for a system already struggling to keep facilities open.

More on Larry Langford and John Katopodis.

Keep reading for more updates, plus a scandalous photo of yours truly, after the jump …

(more…)

Once upon a time, Mayor Larry Langford wanted to give computers to all the good little boys and girls across the kingdom city. So he gathered up a million dollars to distribute through his charity. Only the bad ol’ charity instead gave $10,000 to Langford, $28,000 to his buddy John Katopodis and another $30,000 to untrained computer technician/Playgirl centerfold/gay porn star Ryan Idol.

This ain’t a fairy tale, but the sordid details from depositions [Langford | Katopodis] in a lawsuit filed by HealthSouth against Katopodis, who ran the charity in question created by then Fairfield mayor Langford. Today, the Birmingham city council tabled any further action on buying cheap laptops for schoolkids — also to be run by Katopodis — until answers appear.

No wonder, as Katopodis has had quite a history with HealthSouth and unsubstantiated claims, but thanks to his friendship with Langford, has no problem asking for more public funds for his buddy Frank Stuart Sr. and his shady outfit Stuart Consulting Group.

Should Langford be judged by the company he keeps? The questions he evades? The public dollars he casually tosses around? Or the hubris that flies in the face of the holiness he promotes so fervently?
• Birmingham News: Suit challenges Langford’s first computer charity

• • •

More headlines | send us your news tips.

Park and deride: Should Caldwell Park be renamed? One former city councilor says yes for two reasons: to honor a former councilor you’ve never heard of and to remove Caldwell, who you’ve also never heard of. Nina Miglionico was one of the few female lawyers in Alabama and served on the Birmingham city council for 22 years; she championed women’s issues, and survived threats, taunting and a bomb found on her front porch. Henry Caldwell was a doctor, president of the Elyton Land Company (which settled early Birmingham), first president of Birmingham Trust and Savings Company, helped organize First Presbyterian Church … and a slave owner. John Katopodis, who wants the name change, has too much time on his hands. Why not name the new railroad park after her, or the new domed stadium, instead of erasing history?
• Rename Caldwell Park, ex-councilman says [Birmingham News]

Mercy is for the weak: The Jefferson County Commission changed the name of Cooper Green Hospital to Jefferson Metrocare Cooper Green Hospital this year. Now it wants to change it again, to Mercy Hospital. But News columnist John Archibald says not only is it a waste of money, it takes away an important honor for the namesake, who served as mayor, commission president, vice president of Alabama Power and football coach. Oh, and he built this hospital for the poor after a poor pregnant woman gave birth on the sidewalk after being denied admission to UAB’s facilities: “We don’t learn from history in this town; we seldom bother to learn it. So we step forward and then back, and don’t even recognize our own footprints.” See those skids? It was then that I was dragging you, my son.
• New name sought for Cooper Green [Birmingham News]

None of the above: Mobile County may have had some voting problems during the June 6 state primaries, in which polling places serving more than one house district possibly handed out the wrong ballots. Worse yet, several poll workers responded rudely when voters raised concerns. Now, why does that sound so familiar? Hmm …
• Some voters may have received wrong ballot [Mobile Press-Register]

Holy vigilante: A 66-year-old Roebuck preacher made a name for himself as an anti-crime activist. While officials were strutting around pleading for less crime, the Rev. Hosea Agee took on drug dealers, gang members and prostitutes face to face — and nearly paid the ultimate price. A June 22 shooting sent his wife screaming, who put an end to her husband’s crusade. Agee, who leads Pentecost Temple Church of God in Christ, still plans to fight crime across Birmingham using new less-confrontational approaches. Reminds us of Mom, a 5-foot-0, 99-pound woman who would chase shoplifters down Second Avenue North. Criminals, beware.
• Crime-fighting Roebuck pastor picks less-dangerous approach [Birmingham News]

Also:

• Hoover Met to hold boxing, motocross and jousting events
• Retail developers, condo developers war over last brick
• Cops to promote “Puppies for Guns” trade

• • •

Send us your news tips.