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The U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that State Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, has been indicted on two federal charges of obstruction of justice.
The charge stems from a kickback scheme that has already led to a guilty plea from State Rep. Fred Plump, D-Fairfield, after just one year representing District 55 in the Statehouse, and the indictment of Varrie Kindall, an assistant of Rogers and alleged mistress of Plump that benefit from the scheme.
The superseding indictment alleges that “in 2019, Kindall committed wire fraud by assisting Rogers in directing Fund money to another entity, identified as Organization #1, and then requiring Individual #1 to pay kickbacks to her.”
It further alleges that “after learning about the federal investigation into the fraud scheme, Rogers and Kindall attempted to obstruct justice by offering Individual #1 additional grant money as a bribe and otherwise trying to corruptly persuade Individual #1 to give false information to federal agents.”
APR called multiple phone numbers associated with Rogers Wednesday. One number led immediately to a full voicemail box message.The other number had been disconnected or changed.
The scheme allegedly worked by Rogers allocating $400,000, most of his portion of the Jefferson County Community Service Fund, to Piper Davis, which was run by Plump. Plump in turn would give about $200,00 of that to Kindall, Rogers’ assistant.
The superseding indictment also adds four counts of tax fraud against Kindall.
The maximum penalty for obstruction of justice is twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for obstruction of justice by bribery is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
