State Rep. John Rogers and his longtime assistant share both federal corruption charges and a Shelby County home, according to information provided at their arraignments today in federal court.

The longtime Birmingham Democrat and his assistant, Varrie Johnson Kindall, today appeared in court to hear charges against them stemming from an alleged kickback scheme involving public money. Both pleaded not guilty before Magistrate Judge Staci G. Cornelius at the Hugo L. Black Federal Courthouse in Birmingham.

“As he said in court very definitively, he’s not guilty and we look forward to our day in court,” John C. Robbins, Rogers’ lawyer, told reporters outside the courthouse.

Rogers, 82, is charged with one count of obstruction of justice and one count of obstruction of justice by bribery, according to the indictment in late September. The indictment says Rogers attempted to bribe an unnamed person to lie to federal investigators about a kickback scheme in exchange for receiving public funding for the person’s unnamed nonprofit organization.

Federal prosecutors allege Rogers and Kindall were involved in misusing public money from the Jefferson County Community Service Fund, money that was intended to support two nonprofits, including the unnamed organization and the Piper Davis Youth Baseball League, overseen by former Rep. Fred Plump. Since May, Plump has resigned from his seat and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice.

Rogers was not charged in the case involving Plump and the baseball nonprofit, but the latest kickback allegations are similar. They involve the same source for community grants, but his charges stem from a different and so-far unnamed community organization.

Read more: Who is Rep. John Rogers? Longtime Alabama lawmaker indicted in federal kickback scheme

Their appearance in court today provided additional insight into the arrangements between Rogers and Kindall, whom the lawmaker and his attorney referred to as his caretaker. Rogers, whose Jefferson County district includes Birmingham and his West End home, currently lives with Kindall at her house in Chelsea in Shelby County, according to information his attorney and the judge said during today’s appearances.

Judge Cornelius ordered both Rogers and Kindall to not discuss their cases with each other as conditions of their bonds, despite their living arrangement.

“I understand that Mr. Rogers resides in your home,” Judge Cornelius said to Kindall during her appearance.

During Rogers’ appearance, he and his attorney said that he is living with Kindall while he recovers from hip surgery. He said that he’ll move back to his Birmingham home once he gets his doctor’s approval. Judge Cornelius told Rogers that he needed to submit Kindall’s address to the court, if he would be staying there.

“It’s important that the probation office knows where you are,” she said.

Robbins said after Rogers’ court appearance that Rogers has owned his home in Birmingham and lived there since about 1962.

“John Rogers will follow the judge’s instructions,” Robbins said, in response to a question about how Rogers will keep from discussing the case with Kindall while living with her. “He will not violate any order of the court. It’s as simple as that.”

The September indictment of Rogers and Kindall noted that Johnson had “romantic relationships” with both Rogers and Plump. Rogers said his romantic relationship with Kindall ended several years ago. Kindall has declined interviews with AL.com.

“She is acting as a caretaker and a caretaker only,” Robbins said.

Rogers has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in interviews with AL.com. Rogers also told AL.com that federal prosecutors offered him a deal if he would resign from office and plead guilty. Rogers said he flatly rejected that offer.

‘Why would I plea to something I haven’t done?’ I told them to take the deal and go to hell with it,” Rogers said in a previous interview with AL.com.

Rogers said prosecutors attempted to use the charges against Kindall to persuade him to plead guilty. Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s office previously declined to comment when contacted by AL.com.

“We don’t have any more romantic relationship,” he told AL.com. “This is not Romeo and Juliet.”

In an interview outside the courthouse, Robbins said that Rogers plans to fulfill the remaining three years of his term.

“He’s in good spirits, and looks forward to clearing his name,” Robbins said today.

Rogers has said he will seek a 12th term.

Rogers has a $5,000 unsecured bond. He’s only allowed to travel within the state of Alabama – but he’s not limited to the Northern District due to his role as an elected official who travels to Montgomery, the judge ruled as a condition of his bond.

Judge Cornelius also told Rogers he needed to surrender a pistol and his passport to the court. He said he did not have a firearm. His attorney said that Rogers didn’t know where his firearm or his passport was located but, if they found it in his home, they would surrender it.

Rogers did not make a public statement as he left the courthouse with Kindall around 12:30 p.m. today. Kindall drove the pair away in a brown Nissan truck, and Rogers waved as they pulled away. Robbins said that Rogers had a doctor’s appointment at 1 p.m.

Kindall’s indictment included new tax charges that supersede her previous indictment. Kindall, 58, of Chelsea, is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 11 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering, one count of obstruction of justice, one count of obstruction of justice by bribery, one count of failure to file tax return and two counts of aiding preparation of false tax return.

Federal prosecutors allege she conspired to skim nearly $200,000 in public money in a scheme that involved former state Rep. Fred Plump’s nonprofit baseball league receiving funds from the Jefferson County Community Service Fund.

Kindall is aso facing charges in a separate federal case. She recently pleaded guilty to charges for taking nearly $88,000 worth of her dead parents’ federal retirement payments. Her sentencing date for that case is scheduled for Dec. 19 at the same federal courthouse in Birmingham.

Read more:

Alabama state Rep. John Rogers has been the feds’ target for 35 years. He isn’t afraid.

Birmingham nonprofit doesn’t want missing check from Rep. John Rogers

A Birmingham nonprofit rejected money from a lawmaker. Then he accused them of corruption.

What are the ‘pork’ handouts at the center of a Birmingham corruption case?

How Birmingham area legislators spent pork money; see the top 10 recipients

Should Birmingham remove former Rep. Fred Plump’s name from baseball field?