Feds ask judge to jail Alabama lawmaker, say he FaceTimed witness in bribery case

Feds ask judge to jail Alabama lawmaker, say he FaceTimed witness in bribery case

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to order longtime Alabama state Rep. John Rogers to jail, alleging he violated the terms of his bond by trying to contact a witness in his bribery case.

A federal grand jury in September charged Rogers, D-Birmingham, with obstruction of justice and obstruction of justice by bribery, alleging that he offered public money to the founder of a nonprofit in exchange for the founder lying to the FBI about a kickback scheme involving public tax dollars.

Federal prosecutors now allege Rogers again tried to contact the nonprofit founder, who is a witness in the bribery case, after a federal judge ordered him not to.

“Because the defendant has so quickly and blatantly violated the conditions of release, the United States respectfully requests that the Court revoke defendant Rogers’ bond and remand him to the custody of the United States Marshal pending trial,” George Martin, an assistant U.S. Attorney, wrote in court records on Monday.

When Rogers, 82, appeared in court and pleaded not guilty earlier this month, U.S. Magistrate Judge Gray Borden released Rogers on $5,000 bond and ordered him not to contact any witnesses in the case, federal prosecutors say. Rogers’ bond document is sealed in federal court records.

Rep. John Rogers gets into a truck with assistant Varrie Johnson Kindall after their appearances in federal court in Birmingham on Oct. 12. (Hannah Denham | [email protected])

In court records filed this week, federal prosecutors say that just one week later, Rogers twice tried to call the witness on FaceTime.

Rogers, who has served in the legislature since 1982, did not immediately respond to a request for comment today. His attorney, John Robbins, declined to comment.

Read more: Rogers says he rejected plea deal in federal corruption case, will seek 12th term

A hearing is scheduled for Monday morning before Magistrate Judge Staci Cornelius in federal court in Birmingham.

The witness, identified in court records as “Individual #1,” has not been publicly named. But in the filing this week, Martin wrote that federal prosecutors shared Individual #1′s identity with Rogers’ attorney in an email just one day before the two FaceTime calls.

Individual #1 did not answer the calls and immediately reported them to the FBI, Martin wrote in the filing.

Individual #1 is the founder of a nonprofit organization identified in court records as “Organization #1.”

The indictment says that twice in 2019 Rogers sent money to Organization #1 through the Jefferson County Community Service Fund, a collection of local tax dollars that lawmakers get to hand out to various community groups, causes and local governments.

But Rogers’ longtime assistant, Varrie Johnson Kindall, 58, of Chelsea, received a cut of the money by requiring the organization to pay her an “administration fee.”

That prompted an FBI investigation. And according to the indictment, Rogers then tried to bribe the organization’s founder by offering additional funding from the community service fund, if the founder would lie to the FBI about the payments to Johnson Kindall.

The federal grand jury also charged Johnson Kindall 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 three counts of aiding preparation of false tax return.

She’s pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Rogers has vehemently denied wrongdoing and said he looks forward to proving his innocence.

“All I can say right now is it didn’t happen, and I’ve got proof it didn’t happen,” he told AL.com after the indictment was made public last month. “I am totally confident. I can’t wait to go to court.”

Rogers and his assistant were also at the center of another kickback scheme involving money from the Jefferson County Community Service Fund. In that case, state Rep. Fred Plump pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice and resigned his position in the Alabama legislature.

Plump confessed to conspiring with others to defraud and obtain money from the fund for his nonprofit, Piper Davis Youth Baseball League. Plump told prosecutors in his plea agreement that he cut nearly $200,000 from the grant funds intended for the league and gave it to Johnson Kindall for a nonexistent dance team, which prosecutors say she then spent on personal expenses.

Rogers was named but not charged with any crimes in that case.

AL.com’s Joseph D. Bryant contributed to this story.