MONTGOMERY—Attorney General Luther Strange has announced the conviction and sentencing of former Marshall County Revenue Commissioner Joey Masters on a charge of violating the state ethics law. Masters was sentenced in Marshall County District Court to 12 months in the Marshall County Jail, which was suspended for a term of two years of supervised probation. In addition, he was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine, a $100 fee to the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission, and to perform 200 hours of community service.
Masters was arrested on November 6, 2013, pursuant to a warrant brought by the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division. Later that day, he submitted his resignation as Revenue Commissioner.
In a plea agreement filed, Masters pleaded guilty to violating the ethics law by using his official position for personal gain. In the hearing, the prosecutor stated that the plea involved Masters’ taking money from a cashbox in the Revenue Commissioner’s Office for his personal use. Specifically, three dates in September and November of 2012 where $740 was used were referenced as examples of this. Evidence indicated that Masters returned the money afterward. Masters admitted that he had done this on several occasions. The plea agreement states that there is no restitution due and that it “resolves all matters now currently under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office based on information known at this time.”
Attorney General Strange commended Assistant Attorney General Bill Lisenby and Special Agents of his Special Prosecutions Division for their work in this case. “This matter was thoroughly investigated by my Special Prosecutions Division, resulting in charges against the defendant for the crime that he committed,” said Attorney General Strange. “This defendant did not have the right to use public funds for his personal use, regardless of whether he paid it back. This was an abuse of the public trust and it is appropriate that he no longer is in office and that he is being held to account for his crime.”
AG Strange Pushes Major Criminal Justice Reforms
Legislative package focuses on streamlining death penalty appeals; expanding capital offenses to include school killings
(MONTGOMERY) — Attorney General Luther Strange recently announced major criminal justice reforms that he will advocate for in the upcoming session of the Alabama Legislature. Standing with prosecutors, law enforcement officers and state legislators at news conferences held around the state, Attorney General Strange is asking legislators to strengthen the death penalty appeals process and to provide better investigative tools to fight crime.
“During my time as Attorney General, I have observed the dedication of law enforcement and prosecutors, and their determination to protect the citizens of Alabama. I have listened to their concerns for changes that are needed to give them better tools and to make the criminal justice process stronger and more effective,” said Attorney General Strange.
“Death penalty appeals in Alabama seem endless, with excessive delays that serve only to prolong pain and postpone justice for the victims of these heinous crimes. We are proposing fair and sensible changes to make the system work better for everyone. We also send a clear message that we will not tolerate the slaughter of our children at schools, with changes in the law that specify it is a capital crime to murder them and others who are particularly vulnerable. “
The Fair Justice Act offered by Attorney General Strange and the Alabama District Attorneys Association would amend two parts of Alabama’s death penalty law. This legislation is sponsored by Rep. Lynn Greer and Sen. Bill Holtzclaw.
• The first bill addresses the cumbersome and inefficient appeals process. Following a capital conviction, there is a period of “direct appeals” in which the defendant may seek to overturn the conviction and death sentence. Afterward, the defendant may file a “Rule 32” petition for post-conviction relief to challenge the conviction and death sentence. Currently, defendants may wait until one year after the conclusion of direct appeals to their convictions and sentences before even beginning Rule 32 appeals of their sentences. The Fair Justice Act requires capital defendants to file Rule 32 petitions within 180 days of filing their first direct appeal. Capital defendants would receive better representation by having their claims considered earlier in the process, and indigent defendants would be appointed counsel for the Rule 32 petition within 30 days of being sentenced. Finally, the Fair Justice Act calls for a final decision by the circuit court on the Rule 32 petition within 180 days after the direct appeal is completed. This act will make the appellate process more efficient while both maintaining the same opportunities for court review and enhancing representation currently provided to death row defendants.
• The second bill provides important protections for schoolchildren and certain others who are particularly vulnerable by expanding classifications for killings that may be prosecuted as capital offenses. These offenses would now include the murder of any person on a school campus, any person in a day care or child care facility, anyone who is covered by a “protection from abuse” order when the murder was committed for intimidation or retaliation for the order, and any family member of law enforcement or a public official when the murder was intended for intimidation or retaliation against the officer or official. The Fair Justice Act also makes it an aggravating circumstance—a factor to be considered in determining whether to impose the death penalty—to murder a law enforcement officer when the officer is acting in the line of duty.
“The Fair Justice Act takes a comprehensive approach to streamlining the appeals process in death penalty cases so that family members of victims will not have to suffer for decades awaiting justice to be done,” said St. Clair District Attorney Richard J. Minor, who is President of the Alabama District Attorneys Association. “The bill requires that direct and collateral appeals proceed simultaneously, while ensuring that those defendants sentenced by the court to death will have their rights protected at all stages of the process. This approach will significantly cut down the appeals process from what is currently a 16-year odyssey and increasing.”
Madison County District Attorney Rob Broussard, who is Vice President of the Alabama District Attorneys Association, said, “I believe we are long overdue in the State of Alabama for legislation such as this. I am tired of seeing victims’ families being re-victimized by the system. For them to be back in court 20 years after the trial to litigate baseless appellate issues is a travesty. This legislation should rectify this problem, and work to the advantage of the defendant also in that his appeals will be timely.”
Two additional bills included in the Attorney General’s legislative package emerged from the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Alliance, a partnership of state agencies that Attorney General Strange brought together in 2012 in a major cooperative initiative to better fight public corruption. The Child Protection and Safe Streets Act of 2014 is sponsored by Rep. Allen Treadaway. The Alabama Witness Safe Harbor Act is sponsored by Rep. Mike Ball.
· The Child Protection and Safe Streets Act of 2014 would enable law enforcement to monitor phone communications among criminals to gather evidence that may include admissions of guilt and even information about future crimes that might be prevented. Although wiretapping can be a valuable and effective tool in combating crime, current state law prohibits it use, even by law enforcement. Yet 43 other states and the federal government recognize the necessity and allow for appropriate wiretapping with the safeguard of a court order. Court orders for wiretaps would last only for 30 days, but could be extended for another 30 days. Wiretaps would only be used for crimes of murder, kidnapping, child pornography, human trafficking, sex offenses involving children under 12, and felony drug offenses.
· The Alabama Witness Safe Harbor Act repairs a deficiency in current state law regarding immunity from prosecution for witnesses. Citizens have the right not to testify if doing so might incriminate them, so valuable testimony may be acquired by granting such persons immunity from prosecution. Yet in Alabama, there is a cumbersome procedure that requires the witness to agree to accept immunity, instead of the prosecutor granting immunity and being able to compel testimony. Alabama is the only state that allows the witness to decline immunity and thus to withhold testimony.
“As they currently stand, Alabama’s laws regarding wiretapping and witness immunity serve to tie the hands of law enforcement personnel and prosecutors, and may actually work for the benefit of criminals,” said Attorney General Strange. “This is simply wrong. We owe it to our law enforcement and prosecutors to give them the tools they need to be able to fulfill their duty to protect the people of Alabama and to fight those who would harm us.”
Additional information about the Attorney General’s legislative package will be provided upon its introduction and progress through the Alabama Legislature.
Sylacauga Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding TVA with Inflated Invoices
BIRMINGHAM — A Sylacauga man pleaded guilty today in federal court to a $72,000 wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud the Tennessee Valley Authority, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
FRANK LEWIS CONN, 49, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to one count of wire fraud. His sentencing is scheduled May 28.
According to the October indictment against Conn, he devised a scheme to defraud the TVA by submitting fraudulently inflated invoices for removing vegetation from power lines and other TVA property between February 2009 and October 2009. During that time, Conn was an owner and manager of Conn Equipment Rental Company, which was doing business as Vegetation Management Services.
The TVA Office of the Inspector General investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney David Estes is prosecuting.
Birmingham Man Sentenced to Nearly Three Years in Prison for Multi-Million Dollar Tax Scheme
BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge recently sentenced a Birmingham man to nearly three years in prison and ordered him to repay the government $1.3 million for his scheme to collect millions of dollars from the Internal Revenue Service on false tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and IRS Criminal Investigation Division Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.
U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced Douglas Ervin Dent, 67, to 33 months in prison on 20 counts of false claims against the government. Dent must serve three years of supervised release after completing his prison sentence. A federal grand jury indicted Dent in April. He pleaded guilty to the charges in August.
“This defendant will now go to prison for the $11 million worth of false tax returns he submitted to the IRS,” Vance said. “The tax fraud he perpetrated is both a crime and an affront to the millions of hard-working Americans who pay their justly owed taxes each year. Criminals who scheme to avoid paying taxes or to steal money from the U.S. Treasury will be prosecuted.”
“Today’s sentence of Mr. Dent should serve as a deterrent to individuals who attempt to manipulate our nation’s tax system,” Hyman-Pillot said. “As we approach tax filing season, individuals should be aware of the consequences of filing false claims, as evidenced today. IRS Criminal Investigation will continue its aggressive pursuit of those individuals who devise schemes to defraud the federal government.”
Dent was convicted of filing 20 false income tax returns in his own name and on behalf of others between April 2008 and October 2009. Dent knew that he and the other taxpayers were not entitled to the $11 million in refunds he claimed, according to court records. Each false tax return claimed that money was earned by the taxpayer and withheld by various financial institutions on behalf of the taxpayer during the tax year, and that the taxpayer was entitled to refund of those withholdings from the IRS. In truth, no such earnings and withholdings had occurred.
Among the 20 false returns, Dent filed four in his name and one in the name of his deceased mother. As a result of one of the false returns, Dent received a tax refund of $533,673 from the IRS.
In accordance with Dent’s plea agreement with the government, prosecutors recommended a 33-month prison sentence, based on Dent’s cooperation in the case.
