The second superseding indictment alleges that from around March 2019 to April 2023, Rogers and Kindall conspired with Plump to defraud and obtain money from the Fund. It is alleged that as part of the conspiracy, Rogers, with Kindall’s help, recommended each fiscal year that most of his Fund allocation be paid to Piper Davis
Alabama State Representative John Rogers has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice. This is related to a scheme to defraud the Jefferson County Community Service Fund, as announced by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Carlton L. Peeples, and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Acting Special Agent in Charge Demetrius Hardeman.
According to a plea agreement filed in United States District Court, John Westley Rogers, Jr., 83, of Birmingham, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. These charges stem from an investigation into misconduct connected to the Jefferson County Community Service Fund. Rogers has additionally agreed to step down from his position in the Alabama House of Representatives.
In a related development, Varrie Johnson Kindall, a former assistant and companion of Rogers, pleaded guilty in February 2024 to conspiring with Rogers and former Representative Fred L. Plump, Jr. to defraud the Fund. Plump also pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges in June 2023 and resigned from the Alabama House of Representatives.
According to the second superseding indictment, in 2015, the Alabama Legislature passed Alabama Act No. 2015-226 (the “Act”), which authorized the Jefferson County Commission to impose and distribute a one percent sales tax and a one percent use tax. The purpose of these taxes was to benefit public welfare and enhance the education of Jefferson County's children. Jefferson County began collecting these new taxes around August 2017. The Act stipulated that the tax revenue must be distributed based on specified priorities, including paying off debts from school construction, bolstering the County's general fund, providing funds to each board of education serving County students, and other purposes outlined in the Act.
The Act established the Jefferson County Community Service Fund (the “Fund”), which received approximately $3.6 million annually from the new taxes. It also created the Jefferson County Community Service Committee (the “Committee”), consisting of four members elected by the Jefferson County House and Senate delegations. The Committee's role was to ensure that the Fund was used only for the purposes outlined in the Act. These purposes included supporting public entities and projects such as schools, libraries, museums, parks, zoos, neighborhood associations, athletic facilities, youth sports associations, road construction, the performing arts, police departments, the sheriff’s office, fire departments, and certain nonprofit entities.
Each Representative and Senator representing Jefferson County could suggest expenditures from their allocated portion of the Fund to the Committee. These suggestions were made using a form created by the Committee, which required specific certifications by the legislator. The receiving organization had to provide information about itself and confirm its intention to use the funds for a public purpose. From 2018 to 2022, each Representative was allocated around $100,000, and each Senator was allocated around $240,000 from the Fund each fiscal year.
The second superseding indictment outlines key individuals involved in the case. John Rogers, a longtime member of the Alabama House of Representatives, is one of the defendants. Fred L. Plump, Jr. served as the Executive Director of the Piper Davis Youth Baseball League (“Piper Davis”), a nonprofit organization that claimed to offer positive sports experiences for inner-city youth in Jefferson County. Varrie Johnson Kindall was Rogers’ personal and professional assistant. Individual #1 was the Founder of Organization #1.
Between fiscal years 2018 and 2022, Rogers received approximately $500,000 from the Fund. He directed about $400,000 of these discretionary funds to Piper Davis. Plump then provided approximately $200,000 to Rogers and Kindall as kickbacks.
The second superseding indictment alleges that from around March 2019 to April 2023, Rogers and Kindall conspired with Plump to defraud and obtain money from the Fund. It is alleged that as part of the conspiracy, Rogers, with Kindall’s help, recommended each fiscal year that most of his Fund allocation be paid to Piper Davis. Plump agreed to provide kickbacks to Rogers and Kindall in return. Rogers, Kindall, and Plump allegedly submitted false and fraudulent information to the Committee about Piper Davis’s intended use of the Fund money, and Rogers’s certifications on the request forms were false. After receiving and depositing Fund checks, Plump gave checks to Rogers and Kindall for approximately half of the amount received by Piper Davis. The indictment also alleges that in 2019, Rogers directed Fund money to Organization #1, and Kindall then required Individual #1 to pay kickbacks.
Moreover, the second superseding indictment alleges that, upon discovering the federal investigation into the fraud scheme, Rogers and Kindall tried to obstruct justice. They offered a witness grant money as a bribe and attempted to persuade the witness to provide false information to federal agents. It is also claimed that Rogers and Kindall agreed that she would take full responsibility for the crimes. Kindall would allegedly falsely inform federal investigators that Rogers was not involved in the scheme, in exchange for Rogers's commitment to handle Kindall's personal matters if she were incarcerated.
As part of this arrangement, Rogers allegedly had Kindall provide false statements to investigators and prosecutors during a meeting at the United States Attorney’s Office on May 25, 2023. The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for conspiracy to obstruct justice is 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
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