By Associated Press
Birmingham, AL – A Tuscaloosa contractor was arrested and released on bond Tuesday after being indicted on 17 charges in the ongoing probe of Alabama's two-year college system.
U.S. Attorney Alice Martin said Roger Taylor, who is a principal at Hall-Taylor Construction Co., is charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice, bribery and misapplication of state funds involving trading state contracts for construction work on two homes.
She said one conspiracy charge involved providing $92,000 for construction and appliances for former Chancellor Roy Johnson's Opelika home in exchange for state contracts. The other involves conspiring with former Alabama Fire College Director William Langston to build a presidential mansion owned by a private foundation.
Johnson pleaded guilty and Langston was convicted of federal charges. Both are awaiting sentencing.
"The culture that one must pay to play must be changed," Martin said in a statement. "It is offensive to the very concept of equal opportunity under the law for certain individuals to gain unfair advantage in the awarding of state contracts by doing favors and paying thousands of dollars to persons who control the business."
But Taylor's attorneys, Mark White and Augusta Dowd, responded with their own statement saying Martin "continues to publish false information" about their client, who they say is "a victim of poor management in Alabama's two-year college system."
The lawyers said Martin wasted a "significant sum of taxpayer money" by sending eight government agents to arrest Taylor, who they say has cooperated with the investigation and was prepared to voluntarily surrender if indicted.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of approximately $3 million that prosecutors say Taylor and his company received in connection with construction contracts that were fraudulently influenced.