Porch-pirate penalties, defense spending: Down in Alabama
Check out the podcast today for what we know so far about the missing Fayette County 1-year-old whose father and sister recently died in a car crash. It’s a story shrouded in mystery and certainly heartbreak.
The rest of today’s report follows. Thanks for reading,
Ike
Fentanyl sentencing
The fentanyl-related death of a University of Alabama professor has led to a 20-year prison sentence for Minnesota drug trafficker, reports AL.com’s Carol Robinson.
Louis Donald Burgio, a psychology professor at Alabama as well as the University of Michigan, died in 2022 in Tuscaloosa. He was recognized as the University’s Distinguished Research Professor back in 2004.
Meanwhile, according to the plea agreement in the case, Christopher Louis Bass shipped counterfeit pills, such as counterfeit oxycontin, through the U.S. Postal Service.
In August 2022 Bass shipped Burgio pills that Burgio didn’t know also contained fentanyl.
Prosecutors say the effects of the fentanyl killed Burgio at age 68.
Bass entered a guilty plea earlier this year and admitted that his role led to Burgio’s death.
Package swipers
Speaking of 20-year prison sentences, that’s what some porch pirates could get under a proposed bill for next year’s legislative session, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.
By porch pirate, of course, we mean people who steal delivered packages off front porches in this era of Internet shopping. Porch piracy is a risky venture already, with all the hidden cameras, video doorbells, home security systems, loose dogs and grumpy old men who often work from home coming through the front door with a stick.
Still, some lawmakers are saying it’s a growing problem that needs addressing. The bill will be sponsored by state Sen. April Weaver, a Brierfield Republican.
Possible sentences would depend on the value of the packages that are pirated off your porch.
A theft of less than $500 could get you up to a year behind bars. A theft of $500 up to $1,499 could get you one to five years. A theft of $1,500 up to $2,500 could get you one to 10. And a theft of more than $2,500 could get you up to 20.
The next Alabama Legislative session — our second-most intense season — begins Feb. 4.
Defense spending
The defense spending bill that passed the U.S. Senate on Wednesday will send more than a billion dollars to military bases and defense and aerospace industries in Alabama, reports AL.com’s Howard Koplowitz.
The bill had already passed the House. President Joe Biden is expected to sign it if he doesn’t balk at a measure that would ban taxpayer-funded military healthcare coverage of puberty blockers for children.
About $725 million of the spending is headed for Alabama’s missile-defense industry.
And $300 million is going to projects at Redstone Arsenal, Fort Novosel (formerly Fort Rucker) and the Anniston Army Depot.
There also is money in the bill for projects at Maxwell Air Force base and the state’s ship-building industry.
Warmed up and chilled out
We have a big cooldown today that should last through the weekend. But the warmer weather we’ve had has actually been record-setting in a couple of areas.
We’re coming off two days of record-breaking highs in Mobile, where it reached 80 degrees Tuesday and 78 degrees Wednesday. Montgomery reached 79 degrees on both those days, both tying records set in 1984.
Leigh Morgan has more on all that on AL.com/weather.
Quoting
“I definitely feel like I showed enough that I am capable of being a starter in this league.”
More Alabama News
The podcast
Public-safety reporter Carol Robinson joins John Hammontree to talk about the missing Fayette County 1-year-old whose father and sister recently died in a car crash.
You can find “Down in Alabama” wherever you get your podcasts, including these places: