Two attorneys at Balch & Bingham and one Drummond Company vice president were indicted Thursday on charges related to the bribery of former Alabama state Rep. Oliver Robinson.

Joel Iverson Gilbert,45, and Steven George McKinney, 62, both attorneys and partners at Balch & Bingham, and David Lynn Roberson, a vice president at Drummond Company, were each indicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of bribery, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

The U.S. Attorney's Office, along with the FBI and IRS which investigated the case, held a press conference to talk about the indictment at noon today.

McKinney was chair of the firm's Environmental and Natural Resources Section at the law firm and Gilbert worked in that section. Drummond hired Balch & Bingham to respond to actions by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to expand a superfund cleanup site, and add it to a priorities list, in north Birmingham where a Drummond owned the company would have been liable for the cost of cleanup.

U.S. Attorney Jay Town said expanding the clean up of elevated levels of arsenic, lead, and benzo(a)pyrene found during soil sampling would have exposed Drummond to "tens of millions of dollars" in costs.

Robinson was charged in the bribery scheme to convince residents in north Birmingham, in his district, to not have their land tested for potential contamination.

Robinson has pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme and bribery.

All three men will be arraigned on the charges Oct. 12 at the U.S. Courthouse in Birmingham before U.S. Magistrate Judge Herman N. Johnson Jr. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Abdul K. Kallon.

Balch released this statement today:

"Today we learned of the federal grand jury action regarding Joel Gilbert and Steve McKinney. While we note that Mr. Gilbert has denied the charges and vowed to vigorously defend himself, and expect Mr. McKinney to do the same, the charges allege actions that, if proven to be true, are contrary to the ethical values that guide our firm's attorneys and staff. We take these issues very seriously. We are continuing to cooperate fully with government authorities because, in part, we believe strongly that our firm is not implicated more broadly in the alleged conduct. Both Mr. Gilbert and Mr. McKinney are on an indefinite leave of absence. We will continue to ensure that all of the firm attorneys and staff, across our footprint, fully understand and are adhering to the highest standards of legal and ethical compliance."

Roberson's attorney Brett Bloomston also released this statement:

David Roberson is innocent of the charges returned against him, at the prosecution's request, by a grand jury that heard only one side of the evidence.

David has lived his entire life in Alabama and has earned a stellar reputation for his honesty, integrity, and hard work. David's tenure with his current employer, Drummond Company, Inc., is no exception.



David looks forward to his day in court and expects to be acquitted of all charges by a jury of his peers in a trial where he will have the right to confront the prosecution's evidence.

David Roberson is also represented by Henry (Hank) W. Asbill, Barbara Mack Harding, Anthony J. Dick, and David H. Bouchard of the global law firm Jones Day.

Drummond also issued this statement:

Drummond Company, Inc. is an Alabama headquartered company that for over 75 years has been committed to its employees, customers and communities.

When confronted with an environmental issue in Jefferson County, Alabama, Drummond retained one of the state's most respected environmental law firms. The law firm engaged the Oliver Robinson Foundation to perform community outreach in connection with the matter, and Drummond understood this process was lawful and proper.

Two of the law firm's lawyers involved in the matter, and Drummond's government affairs officer, have now been charged with federal offenses, apparently based on testimony of Representative Robinson. All three men deny the charges, and must be presumed innocent.

Town said if the three men don't enter plea agreements and ultimately face trial that it's a "pretty safe bet" that Robinson will testify against them.

The conspiracy

Roberson was Vice-President of Government and Regulatory Affairs for Drummond Company. He was involved with Gilbert and McKinney in responding to EPA's actions in north Birmingham on behalf of Drummond Company, according to the indictments against the three men.

The law firm represented the Drummond Company and its company ABC Coke in opposing adding land in Tarrant and the Inglenook neighborhood of Birmingham to the Superfund's National Priorities List.

Gilbert and Roberson had previously been identified just as unnamed partner Attorney #1 at Balch & Bingham and unnamed Drummond Employee #1 in the charges against Robinson, according to court records. A third person in the conspiracy, McKinney, was not identified until today.

"Basically McKinney and Gilbert were the brains behind every public or official action taken by Robinson," Town said. "And why wouldn't they be? They helped Drummond buy him and they were getting what they paid for."

"This is the worse type of public corruption. It was all done with the greed of a few and at the expense of so many families and children living in potentially toxic areas," Town said.

"It's cheaper to pay for a politician than it is to pay for an environmental cleanup," Town said.

According to the indictments and Town, here's an explanation of the superfund clean up and conspiracy:

"In July 2014, EPA began considering a petition filed by GASP, a Birmingham, Alabama, environmental advocacy group, to expand the 35th Avenue Superfund Site into the Tarrant and Inglenook areas of north Birmingham and to conduct a preliminary assessment of pollutants allegedly deposited there by ABC Coke and others. On October 9, 2014, EPA granted the petition and contracted with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management ("ADEM") to perform the preliminary assessment," according to the indictment.

In September 2014, EPA proposed adding the 35th Avenue Superfund Site to the National Priorities List, a listing of the nation's Superfund Sites requiring priority attention. Placement on the National Priority List would have allowed EPA to use the federal Superfund Trust Fund to conduct long-term remedial actions at the 35th Avenue Superfund Site provided the State of Alabama agreed to fund ten percent of the costs incurred during cleanup of the site.

The contribution required from the State of Alabama would have been millions of dollars. A listing on the National Priorities List would have allowed cleanup of the Superfund Site to proceed even if EPA was unable to persuade or compel a potentially responsible party to conduct or fund the cleanup. EPA and the State of Alabama could attempt later to recover money spent by the federal and state governments as part of the cleanup from companies determined to be responsible parties through negotiation and/or litigation."

That could have included Drummond's ABC Coke operaton.

Beginning in 2014, and continuing until at least November 2016, the strategy employed Gilbert, McKinney and Roberson "focused on protecting ABC Coke and Drummond Company from the tremendous potential costs associated with being held responsible for pollution within the affected areas," according to the indictments.

Balch & Bingham paid Robinson, through a valuable consulting contract on Dec. 1, 2014 with the Oliver Robinson Foundation to, among other things, take official action favorable to Balch & Bingham's and Drummond Company's interests in matters related to EPA's actions in north Birmingham, the indictment states.

The indictment charges that the contract was written and approved by Gilbert and provided that the Foundation could not "directly or indirectly engage or be concerned or interested in any business or activity which conflicts with its services to Balch or otherwise conflicts with the interests of Balch as determined solely by Balch." Moreover, the contract stated that "[t]he existence of this agreement shall also be kept confidential by Consultant (Robinson)."

"That ladies and gentlemen is the guts of a conspiracy. At this level that's how conspiracies are born," Town told reporters.

Ultimately, Town said, the amount from Balch & Bingham to Robinson's foundation totaled $360,000 through monthly payments. The purpose of having a contract, which Robinson negotiated, was to give the "illusion" of a legitimate reason for funnelling money to Robinson and his foundation, he said.

But under the terms of that contract, Robinson was to do what the law firm and Drummond told him and that the contract be kept confidential, Town said.

Robinson also submitted letters, on his official state letterhead, to agencies, according to the indictment.

One of Robinson's first tasks in furtherance of this strategy was to appear before the Alabama Environmental Management Commission and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management's director in February 2015 to make a public statement advancing the opposition of Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company to EPA's actions in north Birmingham, the indictment states.

Gilbert and Roberson met with to prep Robinson before he met with the AEMC and another meeting with GASP. Gilbert suggested that Robinson record the meeting with GASP officials.

In 2015, Gilbert, McKinney and Roberson formed Alliance for Jobs and the Economy ("AJE") and recruited corporations to contribute money to AJE to help fund opposition to EPA's actions in north Birmingham, according to the indictment. Drummond Company and several other corporations contributed money to AJE at the request of the three men.

Roberson controlled AJE's bank account. During 2015 and 2016, five corporations contributed a total of $195,000.00 to AJE. All of the money, except for minor administrative expenses, were paid to Balch & Bingham as reimbursement for payments to the foundation.

Gilbert and Roberson also directed another $150,000 from Drummond to the Foundation, the indictment states.

In May 2015, Gilbert wrote a Joint Resolution for consideration by the Alabama Senate and Alabama House of Representatives urging "the Attorney General and ADEM to combat the EPA's overreach," the indictment states. After the resolution was submitted to and adopted by the Alabama Senate, Robinson, then a member of the Alabama House of Representatives' Rules Committee, voted in committee to send the resolution to the floor of the House for consideration by the membership of the House with the recommendation that the resolution be adopted.

The resolution was also adopted by the House and signed by then-governor Robert Bentley.

On June 22, 2015, according to the indictment, Gilbert instructed the accounting department at Balch & Bingham not to reference the Oliver Robinson Foundation on invoices sent to Drummond Company. "He also instructed the accounting department to remove references to the Oliver Robinson Foundation on the two invoices that Balch & Bingham sent to Drummond earlier," the indictment states.

During 2015 and 2016, pursuant to the contract, Robinson, through other individuals, communicated Balch & Bingham's and Drummond Company's opposition to EPA's actions to the residents of north Birmingham as directed by Gilbert and Roberson. "The Oliver Robinson Foundation communicated with the residents through an organization formed for that purpose called Get Smart Tarrant," the indictment states.

This story will be updated.

Gilbert, McKinney, Roberson indictment by Ivana Hrynkiw on Scribd