Alabama house speaker Mike Hubbard, convicted on 12 felony charges in an ethics case , was released on a $160,000 bond on Friday ahead of sentencing that could see him imprisoned for up to 20 years on each count.
Hubbard, 54, who took the stand for three days in his own defense and described the case against him as a “political witch hunt”, was convicted on charges that he used the power of his office to improperly funnel huge sums in work and party money to his companies and his clients. Prosecutors accused him of making $2.3m off his party and position.
He faces a sentencing hearing on 8 July.
Alabama attorney general Luther Strange welcomed Hubbard’s conviction as a “good day for the rule of law in our state”. He added: “This should send a clear message that in Alabama we hold public officials accountable for their actions.”
Hubbard will be replaced by acting speaker Victor Gaston. In a statement he said the incident “offers strong proof that the ethics reforms passed by the legislature in 2010 remain among the toughest in the nation”.
Though Hubbard is the first official convicted in the current corruption crackdown, he is not the only one under intense scrutiny. The state is facing a series of further investigations and potential dismissals that have turned its local government into something verging on a comedic spectacle.
Republican Governor Robert Bentley faces an investigation into his relationship with a top aide, with whom he has acknowledged engaging in sexually explicit conversations.
He has denied any physical relationship with the aide, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, though he could be heard on leaked recordings of phone conversations telling Mason:“When I stand behind you, and I put my arms around you, and I put my hands on your breasts.” After a pause, he added, “Hey, I love that too. Putting my hands under you.”
The state’s house judiciary committee is due to meet next week to discuss procedure and rules the committee will follow as it conducts an investigation, which could lead to impeachment proceedings.
Last week Bentley said he is not concerned about the impeachment efforts. “We are not worried about that. We are just going to do our job and work hard for the people of the state of Alabama. We are not concerned with that right now.”
Bentley is also under fire for using a state government helicopter to deliver his wallet, which he’d left behind at the office. Bentley has said he didn’t specifically request a helicopter.
“It sounds bad, it looks bad, but I did not authorize that and that was not my request,” he said in statement. But, he further considered, he needed the wallet “for security reasons. … I’m the governor. And I had to have money.”
Last month Roy S Moore, chief justice of the state supreme court, was suspended from the bench on ethics charges after he instructed probate judges throughout Alabama to ignore national law and to refuse to issue licenses to same-sex couples.
The justice blamed the efforts to remove him from office on a well-known trans entertainer, Ambrosia Starling – whom he has called “a professed transvestite” – and “other gay, lesbian and bisexual individuals, as well as organizations that support their agenda”.
Southern Poverty Law Center’s president, Richard Cohen, has called for Moore’s removal. “He is such an egomaniac and such a religious zealot that he thinks he can ignore court orders with impunity,” Cohen told local news AL.com. “For the sake of our state, he should be kicked out of office.”
Moore previously tangled with federal authorities over his efforts to import his evangelical beliefs into the workings of judicial system. In 2003, he supported the installation of a Ten Commandments monument in the state’s supreme court building. A higher court ruled the washing-machine sized plinth violated the constitutional separation of church and state, and Moore was suspended.
But the pattern of malfeasance does not necessarily equal unpopularity. Although Hubbard denounced “corruption, crime and cronyism at the highest levels of state government”, he enjoyed substantial support. Even after his indictment on corruption charges he was re-elected to the house and, then, as speaker.
His lawyer has said prosecutors had targeted Hubbard with an attack overflowing with “mumbo jumbo”. But specifically, Hubbard was convicted on charges of leaning on business and political contacts to invest in his ailing printing business.
Hubbard has vowed to appeal his conviction. “I feel confident that we’ll prevail in the outcome,” attorney David McKnight told WSFA news.
