June 14, 2006
And in a similar vein...
Jury convicts Jeffco engineer, construction firm in sewer case
VAL WALTON
News staff writer
It took a federal jury less than three hours Tuesday to convict a former Jefferson County engineer and a construction company of wrongdoing stemming from the county's $3 billion sewer program.
The jury found Ronald Wilson guilty of bribery and conspiracy involving a $4,500 payment from Pugh Construction Inc. made to UAB on behalf of his son. The jury found Pugh guilty of conspiracy. The verdict came after eight days of testimony before U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler.
Jurors agreed with prosecutors finding the payment was a bribe, symbolizing a pattern of rampant bribery involving contracts for court-ordered work on upgrading the county's dilapidated sewer system. Wilson's attorneys had argued the payment was a legitimate scholarship, noting the government's own witness, Grady Pugh Jr., testified that it was not a bribe, but a scholarship. [...]
Glennon Threatt, a lawyer for Wilson, said Wilson was harmed by unrelated evidence of bad acts involving other former Jefferson county officials who are accused of taking bribes. A federal jury in April convicted former commissioner Chris McNair of conspiracy and bribery, along with five executives and their companies. [...]
"It's a difficult environment for anyone who worked in the county to get a fair trial," Threatt said. "You can't escape the stench of unrelated evidence."
Here--I'll play this for you--I know it'll make you feel better, Mr. Threatt.
Maybe this couple of verdicts means I was wrong about the juries around here. The one that will be the real test should be reaching a decision in the coming days.