Rep. John Rogers agrees to plea deal, will resign from Alabama House

Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, asks a question during a debate over an insurance bill in the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 20, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham has reached a plea deal over allegations that he diverted public money for a youth baseball league to an associate, the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Northern District of Alabama said on Monday.

The office said Rogers, 83, agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. The plea deal was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

As part of the agreement, Rogers has agreed to step down from his position in the Alabama House of Representatives, where he has served since 1982. The plea agreement says Rogers will serve 14 months in home confinement and pay over $197,000 in restitution.

John Robbins, Rogers’ attorney, said Monday he could not comment yet as they had just reached the deal.

The agreement follows similar pleas from Rogers’ former associate Varrie Johnson Kindall and former Rep. Fred L. Plump, D-Fairfield, who previously admitted to their roles in defrauding the Jefferson County Community Service Fund.

Rogers, currently the longest-serving Representative in the Alabama House, was allotted approximately $500,000 from the fund between fiscal years 2018 and 2022. Prosecutors allege that Rogers directed a significant portion of these funds to the Piper Davis Youth Baseball League, headed by Plump, who then funneled kickbacks totaling approximately $200,000 to Rogers and Kindall.

The indictment further accuses Rogers, Kindall and Plump of submitting false information to the committee regarding the intended use of fund money for Piper Davis. Rogers and Kindall are alleged to have obstructed justice by attempting to influence a witness and providing false information to investigators.

The maximum penalties for these charges include up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Rep. John Rogers indicted on two counts of obstruction of justice

Rogers agreed to plead guilty one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count for conspiracy to obstruct justice.

Rogers could face up to a total of 25 years imprisonment or a fine of up to $500,000, or both. He could also face supervised release for up to three years.

He’ll also have to pay Jefferson County Community Service Fund $197,950.45 in restitution. In exchange, the U.S. Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss the remaining counts in the second superseding indictment, which included a count of obstruction of justice by bribery and one for failure to file tax return.

The state representative was jailed in October over allegations that he had made a phone call to a witness in the case. Rogers, who said the call was an inadvertent mistake, was released after a judge imposed new conditions on him.

Rogers is the third state representative to plead guilty to a criminal charge and resign from the Alabama House in the last 10 months. Plump resigned in May . Former Rep. David Cole, R-Madison, resigned at the end of August and pleaded guilty to a charge of knowingly voting at a polling place where he was not authorized to vote.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.

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