Former lawmaker sentenced to year in prison for role in kickback scheme

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A former Alabama lawmaker was sentenced Friday to a year in federal prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving state grant funds.

U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler sentenced former state Rep. Fred Plump to 12 months and a day in prison and three years of supervised release. Plump, a Democrat from Fairfield, last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges and resigned from the Alabama House of Representatives as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

The charges relate to before Plump took office. Prosecutors said Plump paid kickbacks from state grant funds allocated to his youth sports group by then-Rep. John Rogers. Plump took about $200,000 of the $400,000 that was allocated to his Piper Davis Youth Baseball League and gave it to Rogers’ legislative assistant, according to the plea agreement.

“We appreciate the government and Judge Coogler recognizing that coach did not personally profit from this arrangement, but he knew that the money going to his co-defendants was illegal,” Richard Jaffe, Plump’s defense lawyer, wrote in an email.

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