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.

Samuel Pettagrue

Positions held: pastor of Sardis Missionary Baptist Church

Wanted for: bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering

Date of conviction: Jan. 21

Sentence: 5 years probation, including 1 year of home detention, $366,000 in restitution. Prosecutors, who had sought 14 years imprisonment, voiced disappointment at the sentence, which took into account his numerous health problems.

Criminally fun fact: Pettagrue worked with state senator E.B. McClain, who passed along $760,000 funds to the community program Heritage to Hope Foundation, run by Pettagrue and intended to tutor high school dropouts.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: Samuel Pettagrue
• 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. 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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Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival updates …

• Awhile back, a long while back, we promised numbers from May’s Birmingham Shout gay/lesbian film festival. Here’s where we stand:

Officials at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, which runs the annual event, declined repeated requests for revenue figures form the two-day event. Shout festival director Ralph Young said that attendance increased 250 percent from 2008 to 2009, though it’s unclear how he arrived at this figure.

He states that 2009 attendance was 710 (135 on opening night and 575 the following day). In 2008, the one-day festival attracted 285 attendees, but this accounts for only a 149 percent increase. For comparison, the 2009 festival had 13 feature-length films and a shorts block, while 2008 had five films and one short, and 2007 had 14 films and three shorts (over three days).

Ticket prices for 2009 were $20 to $25 for opening night and $20 for all day Saturday, or $12 per film.

Chloe Collins, Sidewalk’s executive director, said:

“The Alabama Moving Image Association [Sidewalk’s umbrella organization] presents numerous events throughout the year (Sidewalk, Shout, Scrambles, Teen Filmmaking Challenge etc.), and each of these events have expenses and incomes, making up the total AMIA budget.

“Like most nonprofit organizations who host multiple events throughout the year, AMIA provides the expense and income information for the entire season, as requested by the various organizations from whom we seek funding and as required by law.”

Other Sidewalk updates:

• The festival launched a three-week Kick the Bucket online fund-raiser with a goal of $10,000. Despite extending the campaign by a week, it appears the effort fell short by a considerable amount. The last update said it had raised $2,861 as of Aug. 31. Update: The campaign raised $5,864.
• Speaking of fund-raisers, Theatre Downtown is donating all proceeds to Sidewalk from its 8 p.m. Sunday performance of “Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.” Performances take place at Birmingham AIDS Outreach, 205 32nd St. S., Ste. 101, Lakeview [map]. Tickets — $17, $12 for senior citizens and students — can be purchased online or by calling (205) 306-1470.
• The schedule, originally to be posted Aug. 10, should be posted Friday on the site, according to today’s e-mail newsletter.
• Lastly, the November Sidewalk Scramble has been moved to this month, with entries to be screened at this year’s festival on Sept. 25-27. Registration, $50, closes 5 p.m. Monday, with competition taking place Aug. 28-30. For more information, visit the Scramble page.

Update Aug. 21: Sidewalk schedule delayed till next week. The word from organizers:

The Sidewalk Staff is pleased to announce that we have secured a new screening venue, giving us a grand total of 8, all located in downtown Birmingham. Because of this exciting development, we are now having to reorganize the official schedule and will not be able to post it today.

In addition, we’ve had some exciting developments with our Opening and Closing Night films, special screenings, and more. So, beginning on Monday, we will be giving you updates every day next week, beginning with the Sidewalk Minute on Fox 6, starting at about 7:50am. Stay tuned to your inbox, sidewalkfest.com, Facebook, and Twitter to stay on top of all things Sidewalk.

To whet your appetite, here’s a sneak peek at some of the films we’ll be showing at Sidewalk:

• “Etienne”
• “Dear Lemon Lima”
• “We Fun”
• “Lightning Salad Moving Picture”
• “Autistic Like”
• “Modern Love is Automatic”

• • •

More Sidewalk coverage.

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.

Troy Ingram

Positions held: miner, mechanic, Ku Klux Klan leader

Wanted for: making and planting bombs

Date of conviction: never prosecuted

Sentence: n/a

Criminally fun fact: Ingram met Bob Chambliss while working with the United Mine Workers. The two are assumed to have provided know-how for bomb making for fellow Klan operatives.

Ingram was implicated in several bombings, including the house of Birmingham civil rights attorney Arthur Shores, the 16th Street Baptist Church and a street in Titusville. Debris found from the Titusville bombs matched materials in his garage, and Ingram failed FBI polygraph tests.

He died in 1973 while driving a fire engine for the Cahaba Heights Volunteer Fire Department.

• • •

Additional reading:

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

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham?
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.

E.B. McClain

Positions held: State senator, representative

Wanted for: bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering

Date of conviction: Jan. 21

Sentence: 5 years 10 months in prison

Criminally fun fact: The Bessemer native and four-term senator passed $760,000 funds to the community program Heritage to Hope Foundation, intended to tutor high school dropouts. McClain received a 40 percent kickback, or $304,000.

After sentencing, he said, as a joke, “I guess I can learn how to play golf now,” referring to his likely prison, minimum-security federal prison at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery. The prosecution sharply rebuked McClain’s quip.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: E.B. McClain
• Crime Watch
• Meet more of Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks | RSS feed

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? 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.

Bill Blount

Positions held: Montgomery investment banker, handled Jefferson County’s bond swap deals

Wanted for: bribery and conspiracy, indicted with Al LaPierre and Langford

Date of conviction: today, admitting to bribing county commissioners Langford and Mary Buckelew.

Sentence: Sentencing date to be determined. Blount faces up to 10 years in prison for conspiracy and 5 years in prison for bribery (prosecutors wil ask for 52 months), plus up to $500,000 in fines. Plea agreement says he will forfeit $1 million. Blount is expected to testify in Langford’s trial.

Criminally fun fact: The government says Blount paid for several of Langford’s expensive purchases, including $11,750.40 at Bromberg’s Fine Jewelers and nearly $30,000 in 4 years at Remon’s Clothier.

According to the Press-Register (Mobile), Blount has had a tangled history of bond financing deals gone sour, from two 1995 deals for the City of Mobile that warranted investigation by the FBI and the IRS, and a state warehouse construction project from 2001 pushed by political pal and then Gov. Don Siegelman.

• • •

Additional reading:

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

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? 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 Hawes

Positions held: Atlanta railroad engineer

Wanted for: murder of his daughter May (found in East Lake) and his other daughter Irene and wife Emma (both found chained at the bottom of Lakeview Lake, now Highland Park Golf Course).

Date of conviction: May 23, 1889

Sentence: death by hanging

Criminally fun fact: Hawes’ triple homicide sparked national media attention for the young city of Birmingham. He married Mayes Story, of Columbus, Miss., shortly after the murders. His son Willie, living with Hawes’ relatives in Georgia, survived.

After the discovery of Emma and Irene’s bodies, a mob of 1,000 to 3,000 people came for Hawes at the county jail, but Sheriff Joseph Smith ordered his deputies to fire on the crowd, killing 10 people. A St. Louis circus owner offered to purchase Hawes’ body for his traveling sideshow but was rejected.

The episode is credited with transforming Birmingham from a wild frontier town into a law-abiding New South city.

• • •

Additional reading:

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

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? 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.

Al LaPierre

Positions held: executive director of the Alabama Democratic Party; lobbyist for the City of Fairfield and Jefferson County Racing Association; consultant to Montgomery-based Blount Parrish and Company for Jefferson County bond swap deals.

Wanted for: conspiracy and filing a false tax return, indicted with Bill Blount and Langford

Date of conviction: July 30

Sentence: To be sentenced Nov. 19. Maximum is 8 years in prison, but prosecution is expected to recommend 4 years, as part of LaPierre’s plea agreement and testimony in Langford’s trial. He also forfeits $371,932 plus taxes owed from 2003 to 2006.

Criminally fun fact: LaPierre promoted VisionLand (now Alabama Adventure) to state legislators on Langford’s behalf in 1996. His political action committees were among the biggest contributors to Langford’s 2002 campaign for the Jefferson County commission.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: SEC investigation into Jefferson County bond swaps
• Crime Watch
• Meet more of Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks | RSS feed

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? 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.

James Bevel

Positions held: minister; member of U.S. Navy; aide to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.; Alabama project coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

He suggested to King that children participate in the civil rights marches in Birmingham. The move eventually led to the police’s use of fire hoses and dogs to turn away protesters from Kelly Ingram Park.

Wanted for: incest

Date of conviction: April 2008

Sentence: 15 years in prison, but was out on bond because of poor health and died Dec. 19.

Criminally fun fact: Bevel was born in Itta Bena, Miss., to a sharecropping family and had 16 siblings. He fathered 16 children among nine women, and married four times.

His erratic behavior included: declaring himself a prophet in a hotel room and asking college students to drink his urine as a loyalty test; supporting claims of innocence by James Earl Ray, King’s assassin; and running for vice president in 1992 with presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche Jr.

• • •

Additional reading:

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

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? 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.

Virginia Hill

Positions held: Lipscomb native; waitress; alleged bookmaker, prostitute and blackmailer; Mafia “bag woman”

Wanted for: involvement in organized crime, tax fraud

Date of conviction: never convicted, though she testified before the Senate and later moved to Europe after the Internal Revenue Service sued her for back taxes. When asked by the Senate committee on organized crime why a mobster would give Hill so much money, she replied, “Because I’m the best —-sucker in town.”

Sentence: n/a

Criminally fun fact: Hill was one of 10 siblings. She was rumored to have secretly married gangster Bugsy Siegel. Two actresses have portrayed Hill: Dyan Cannon in a TV movie and Annette Bening in “Bugsy.” Her overdose on sleeping pills appeared to be an apparent suicide, but could have also been a Mafia hit.

• • •

Additional reading:

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

• • •

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A still from the documentary, “Food Inc.”

Following up on our exclusive story from earlier this week, “Food Inc.” tickets are on sale through Bottletree Cafe for the Labor Day weekend screenings in Birmingham. Proceeds benefit Greater Birmingham Community Food Partners, a nonprofit advocacy group for sustainable food.

“Food, Inc.” is a critically acclaimed documentary that examines the modern American food industry.

• Sept. 5, 1 p.m., $7 [buy tickets]
• Sept. 5, 5 p.m., $7 [buy tickets]
• Sept. 6, 4 p.m., $18, includes panel discussion and Sunday supper after screening [buy tickets]

For more information, contact Amanda Storey on her site, Food Revival, or e-mail her at Amanda.storey[at]foodrevival.com.

For more on “Food Inc.,” see our previous story, “EXCLUSIVE: ‘Food Inc.’ to screen at Bottletree Cafe on Labor Day weekend.”

Update: You can also find out more about the screenings on Food Revival.

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.

Danny Ray Miles

Positions held: bartender, felon and federal witness

Wanted for: murder, kidnapping and robbery

Date of conviction: 1977

Sentence: life in prison

Criminally fun fact: Born Danny Milar, Miles hid guns in his garage in Ohio before testifying against the gun-running operation. The Witness Protection Program moved him to Florida, then Birmingham, where he was given a job tending bar at Pat James Tavern on Southside.

He and Samuel Yarber kidnapped and murdered two men on Nov. 3, 1975. Police recovered 17 bullets from the bodies and the ground. Miles, denied parole in 2007, will have another parole hearing in 2012.

Barbara Bearden, sister of Miles’ victim Ronald White, co-founded victims’ rights group Victims of Crime and Leniency.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: Danny Ray Miles
• Crime Watch
• Meet more of Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks | RSS feed

• • •

Want more Wade on Birmingham? 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

• • •

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Earlier today, we posted a preview of the returning Birmingham Heritage Festival.

Scratch that.

The three-day music festival was scheduled for Linn Park on Friday through Sunday, with Ludacris, Angie Stone, Keyshia Cole, Chaka Khan and OverFloe. But financial woes have forced organizers Ascension Event Management to pull the plug three days before opening.

The first hint of trouble came when the organizers approached the city council for a last-minute loan of $300,000 to pay acts. The second hint came today when rapper Ludacris, billed as a performer, said he wasn’t performing, calling the festival “bogus.”

Lawrence Walker of Ascension Event Management released a statement on the Birmingham Heritage Festival site, citing a broken promise from the City of Birmingham and even blaming negative media coverage. [See statement after the jump.]

Ticket buyers can receive refunds from the original point of purchase.

(more…)

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.

J.B. Stoner

Positions held: Georgia-born attorney; chairman of  the National States’ Rights Party, the political arm of the Ku Klux Klan

Wanted for: 1958 bombing of Birmingham’s Bethel Baptist Church

Date of conviction: 1980

Sentence: 10 years in Kilby Prison outside Montgomery, but released after three-and-a-half years for good behavior.

Criminally fun fact: During his 1970 Georgia gubernatorial run, Stoner described Adolf Hitler as “too moderate.” During his 1972 Senate campaign, he won a ruling from the FCC that TV stations had to air his commercials despite his use of the “n-word.”

Stoner was a fugitive for 5 months before surrendering to go to prison, fearing what black prisoners would do to him. A few months before his death at age 81 in a Georgia nursing home, he told a reporter he’d like to still march out and make a segregation speech. He served as an appeals attorney for assassin James Earl Ray.

• • •

Additional reading:

• Bhamwiki: J.B. Stoner
• Crime Watch
• Meet more of Birmingham’s Biggest Crooks | RSS feed

• • •

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