Connect with us

Alabama

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

Published

on

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

Advertisement

GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

Advertisement

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

Advertisement

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.

Advertisement

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.



Source link

Alabama

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama

Published

on

Top-30 overall recruit Jaxon Richardson commits to Alabama


Jaxon Richardson, the No. 27 overall recruit in the 2026 class per the Rivals Industry Ranking, has committed to Alabama.

The 6-foot-6 four-star small forward out of Southeastern Prep (FL) ultimately chose the Crimson Tide over USC, Creighton, and Ole Miss. He also received offers from Miami, Cincinnati, Michigan, Florida, Villanova, and others.

Richardson, a McDonald’s All-American, becomes the Crimson Tide’s third commitment of the 2026 cycle. He joins four-star shooting guard Qayden Samuels (No. 28 NATL) and four-star small forward Tarris Bouie (No. 54 NATL).

He’s the son of NBA veteran and two-time NBA Dunk Contest champion Jason Richardson. His older brother, Jase, played for Michigan State last season before being selected 25th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

Advertisement

More on Richardson

Rivals’ National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw says Richardson is one of the most explosive players in the 2026 class:

Jaxon Richardson is able to combine fluid athleticism with explosive burst in a way no other player in this class can. He uses his athleticism to his advantage on the floor. He fills the outside channels with a purpose in transition, he is aggressive in the passing lanes, and he plays as a vertical floor spacer in the dunker spots and lob plays. Last summer, playing with the Florida Rebels on Nike’s EYBL Circuit, the 6-foot-6 wing averaged 12.8 points on 54.0 percent shooting and 10.5 attempts per game. Last high school season, he averaged 12.9 points on 61.0 percent shooting on 8.9 attempts per game. He is a highly efficient player, as 84.4 percent of his makes last high school season were at the rim.



Source link

Continue Reading

Alabama

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets

Published

on

Alabama Baseball Ties Stolen Base Record In Win Over Hornets


Alabama baseball cruised to a win over Alabama State on Wednesday night, beating the Hornets 13-4 to complete the season sweep. The Crimson Tide tied a program record with nine stolen bases in one of the stranger contests that will be played this season.

The tone was set for a tumultuous night on the basepaths in the opening minutes of the game. Leadoff batter Bryce Fowler, who exited Tuesday’s game after getting beaned in the head, was walked, and promptly took second base. He advanced to third on a wild pitch in Justin Lebron’s at-bat, paving the way for Lebron to steal second when he was ultimately walked as well.

The successful baserunning instantly paid off, as Brady Neal drove both in with a double to left-center field before John Lemm walked two at-bats later. Both runners stole their respective bases on the same pitch in Jason Torres’ plate appearance, meaning that four of the first five batters of the game stole a base.

Advertisement

Alabama has been exceptional on the basepaths, sitting at 30-for-30 on the season. Lebron, who swiped two bags on Wednesday, leads the team with 12. The junior had an up-and-down night, hitting his eighth home run of the season, but also committing an error at shortstop for the fourth consecutive game.

Advertisement

“Get those things out of there now, baby. The dude is unbelievable,” an unconcerned Rob Vaughn said on Tuesday of Lebron’s errors. “We’re going to look up at the end of the year, and that guy is going to have five or six errors, which one he’s got right now, and we’ll be like, ‘Man, that guy is the best of all time to do it.’”

Wednesday’s game was a very prototypical midweek contest with no shortage of quirks and oddities throughout its nearly four-hour runtime. Fifteen Alabama batters were walked, falling just one shy of the program record, and the hit by pitch record was tied as seven batters were plunked.

The game was never competitive from an on-field standpoint. After barely escaping with a 2-1 win in the first matchup with the Hornets two weeks ago, this was a far more accurate representation of what these games typically look like, as Alabama now leads the all-time series 15-0.

Freshman Joe Chiarodo made his first career start, allowing two hits and one walk over two scoreless innings. He was named the winning pitcher. Luke Smyers, Connor Lehman, Anthony Pesci and Tate Robertson were the other pitchers to take the mound. Lehman allowed a three-run blast in the sixth inning, and those were the only runs until the incredibly-named Skywalker Mann drove in a run off Robertson in the ninth.

Advertisement

Perhaps the most shocking figure from the game was that Alabama had 19 runners left on base. The Crimson Tide left the bases loaded in four different innings. As stated, this was just a bizarre baseball game across the board. With the midweeks out of the way, the Crimson Tide gets to prepare for its final weekend tune-up before SEC play as North Florida heads into Tuscaloosa on Friday.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Alabama

New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten

Published

on

New Alabama law to set screen time limits for kids in day care, pre-K and kindergarten


The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act was signed on Wednesday, March 4, by Governor Kay Ivey to introduce limits on children’s screen time access in Alabama.

The Act is one of Ivey’s 2026 legislative priorities.

“Video screen access in classrooms can boost learning skills among our young children, but too much screen exposure can also be detrimental, harming critical social and cognitive development,” Ivey said. “The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act ensures our youngest students are provided a healthy balance of screen time and traditional learning in order to protect social and emotional development.”

Under the Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act, the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education will be required to work with the Department of Human Resources and the State Department of Education to develop guidelines for screen-based media.

Advertisement

Guidelines will be implemented in early childhood education programs like day care centers, day care homes, night care facilities, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and group day care homes. The Act was sponsored by Representative Jeana Ross and Senator Donnie Chesteen.

“House Bill 78 establishes clear, research-based expectations for how technology is used in early childhood settings,” said Ross. “The goal is not to eliminate technology, but to ensure its use is developmentally appropriate and never replaces the hands-on learning and human interaction young children need most. By setting thoughtful guardrails and aligning classroom practices with the best available research on early brain development, this legislation supports educators, protects the quality of early learning and reinforces our commitment to giving Alabama’s youngest students the strongest possible start.”

A training program will also be created by the Department of Early Childhood Education to create a baseline for the appropriate use of child screentime for teachers and staff members supervising children.

“The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act represents another important step in ensuring Alabama’s youngest children grow and learn in environments that prioritize human interaction, exploration and healthy development,” said Chesteen. “Building on the progress made with last year’s FOCUS Act, this legislation continues our commitment to protecting the most formative years of childhood. I am grateful to Governor Kay Ivey and my colleagues in the Legislature for recognizing the importance of this issue and working together to support Alabama families.”

The Healthy Early Development and Screen Time Act will become effective on January 1, 2027.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending