Heart of Dixie · Trouble on Goat Hill
The Foundation and the Superfund
United States v. Roberson (Gilbert and Roberson) (2021)
Charge: Conspiracy, bribery, honest-services wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy - paying a state legislator's foundation to oppose an EPA cleanupCourt: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (appeal from N.D. Ala., No. 2:17-cr-00419)Docket: Trouble on Goat Hill
Were the foundation payments bribes to turn a legislator against the EPA?
The facts
Joel Gilbert, a partner at the Balch & Bingham law firm, and David Roberson, a Drummond Company executive, opposed EPA plans to expand the 35th Avenue Superfund site in north Birmingham and add it to the national priorities list, which threatened a Drummond subsidiary with cleanup liability. About $360,000 flowed in 2015-2016 to a foundation controlled by state Rep. Oliver Robinson through consulting contracts routed via a nonprofit. Robinson met EPA officials, spoke against the EPA before a state commission, and helped move a resolution opposing EPA activity. The defendants called it lawful advocacy.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: United States v. Roberson (Gilbert and Roberson), United States v. Roberson, 998 F.3d 1237 (11th Cir. 2021) (No. 18-14654)
Read more at media.ca11.uscourts.gov. The source reveals the outcome.