Larry Langford, who scratched his way out of the poverty and violence of a Birmingham housing project to become a charismatic politician who won the highest elective offices in Birmingham and Jefferson County only to lose it all when convicted of public corruption, is dead.

Langford died Jan. 8 2019, in a Birmingham hospital where he had been admitted a few weeks earlier after a federal judge reduced his sentence and allowed him to be transferred from a federal prison hospital in Lexington, Ky. His death was confirmed by Alabama State Rep. Juandalynn Givan, a close family friend.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, who ordered city flags lowered in Langford’s honor, issued a statement early Tuesday evening. “It’s with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Mayor Larry Langford. Our hearts go out to the Langford family during this time of loss,” Woodfin stated.

“Mayor Langford had an unmatched love for his community – a love he expressed through his boldness and creativity. During all of our interactions, one thing was always clear – Mayor Langford was an unabashed advocate for the city he served. His fire for change and passion for people will be a lasting part of his legacy,” Woodfin said. “Above all else, Mayor Langford loved this city.”

“Please keep Mayor Langford’s loving wife Melva, family members and friends in your prayers during this difficult time. May he be remembered for his boundless ingenuity and as a fervent voice for the people,” Woodfin stated.

In October of 2009, Langford was convicted on 60 counts of wrongdoing, including bribery, fraud and money laundering related to his time as Jefferson County Commission president.

Langford was sentenced to 15 years in prison, a sentence that at the time many worried would amount to a death sentence given Langford’s health.

Langford was 72, born on March 17, 1946, according to prison records.

Reactions to Langford’s death

Langford could be a study in contradictions. While he swore like a sailor, he was a devoutly religious man who attended Mass regularly and taught Sunday school classes. He was one of the first African-American television reporters in Birmingham, but Langford grew to despise the media. He was a man who devoted much of his life to the care and welfare of children, especially when it came to their education. He was the driving force in the building of a new high school in Fairfield and a program in Birmingham as mayor that put laptop computers into the hands of many students. Langford also routinely lamented the restrictions put on schools and parents when it comes to corporal punishment of kids. Langford was often heard to say that what kids needed was “a good butt whipping” to straighten them out. A lifelong smoker, it was not uncommon for Langford to dress down young people he would come across who were smoking.

Maybe the biggest contradiction came on the issue of honesty. Langford said his mother raised him never to take what didn’t belong to him. Langford often told the story of his mother severely beating him with the cord of an iron after she caught him taking change to buy cookies. The beating was so bad he had to be taken to the emergency room.

“From that day to this day, you can put anything on the table in front of me and if it doesn’t belong to me, it is going to be on that table when you get back,” Langford said in a 1991 interview.

Nineteen years later, in another interview on the eve of his federal trial, Langford said this after declining to discuss the specifics of the changes he was facing.

“I’m no crook. My mother taught me the hard way not to take what doesn’t belong to me.”

Yet, that self-declaration of honesty beaten into Langford as a boy flies in the face of the description of the man that a federal jury found accepted almost a quarter of a million dollars in cash and luxury items in exchange for using his office to guide millions of dollars in Jefferson County bond business to old friends.

Langford always maintained that the dollars he got were loans and the expensive clothes and other items just gifts from old friends.

But the jury found they were crimes and the judge sentenced Langford to prison for what would prove to be the rest of his life.

The irony of Langford’s life is, that for a man who reached the heights of politics in Alabama’s largest city and county, his fall fulfilled his greatest fear as a kid growing up in the projects. Langford talked about that fear on the eve of his trail.

“I was angry all the time as a kid. I was really a punk heading toward nothing but jail and an early grave,” Langford said.

“Funny, after all I’ve tried to do for people and after all this,” Langford said, pointing toward his office at City Hall and then waving a hand across the city’s skyline, “I could still end up in jail. Don’t try telling me life is fair.”

LARRY LANGFORD TIMELINE

CHILDHOOD

Born March 17, 1946, according to prison records, although Langford sometimes provided contradictory dates. Raised in Titusville’s Loveman Village public housing community, one of five boys and one girl of mother Lillian Nance.

1960s

Graduated from Parker High School, 1965.

Served in the U.S. Air Force, 1965-71.

1970s

Worked at WBRC-TV, 1971-77, where he was one of the station's first black reporters.

Earned a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1973, with a double major in anthropology and sociology and a minor in philosophy.

Filed personal bankruptcy, listing debts of $40,000 and net earnings of $7,500.

Married Linda Delores Green in 1973, a marriage that ended in divorce.

Served on the Birmingham City Council, 1977-79. Was a frequent critic of then-Mayor David Vann, whom he accused of moving too slowly on major projects.

Ran for mayor of Birmingham in 1979, challenging Vann and several other candidates, including Richard Arrington, who won the election.

1980s

Hired by KAR Products in 1980, a job he held until news reports revealed he had arranged no-bid contracts with the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board for various purchases, including duplications of purchase orders. The company fired Langford.

Moved to Fairfield in 1982.

Married his second and current wife, the former Melva Ferguson, in 1982.

Hired by the beer distributor Birmingham Budweiser in 1982 as director of community relations.

Elected mayor of Fairfield in 1988. Was the city's first black mayor.

1990s

Re-elected mayor of Fairfield in 1992 and 1996.

Was the driving force behind the eventual agreement of 11 Jefferson County municipalities to join forces to finance the building in 1998 of Visionland amusement park in Bessemer, a $90 million project.

2000s

Re-elected mayor of Fairfield in 2000.

Formed the charity Computer Help for Kids in 2000 with former Jefferson County Commissioner and Birmingham City Council member John Katopodis. Katopodis was convicted in July 2009 on 99 counts of federal mail and wire fraud charges for using the charity as a ''personal piggy bank.''

Visionland filed for bankruptcy in 2002 with $100 million in debt. It was sold to a private operator for $5.25 million, renamed Alabama Adventure and continues operating today.Ran for Jefferson County Commission and won in 2002.

Selected as Democratic president of the County Commission, although Republicans held a 3-2 majority on the board. As president, Langford oversaw the county's finances.

Championed a series of bond deals in 2002 and 2003 to refinance the county’s then-$3.2 billion sewer debt. Deals included a series of complex interest-rate swaps and other transactions that eventually backfired, causing the county’s sewer debt to soar and forcing the county into a $4.23 billion bankruptcy. At the time it was the largest municipal bankruptcy in United States history.

Led effort in 2004 for the commission to approve a 1 percent local sales tax for $1 billion plan to finance school construction in each district throughout Jefferson County.

Re-elected to the Jefferson County Commission in 2006 but lost presidency to Republican Bettye Fine Collins.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating Jefferson County financial transactions, including Langford's involvement, in 2007.

Elected Birmingham mayor in 2007, winning 50.3 percent of the vote in a field of 10 candidates.

Launched a series of high-profile projects as mayor, including raising the city sales tax by 1 cent on the dollar, pushing for a domed stadium, cleaning up neighborhoods, repaving downtown streets, tearing down abandoned houses, building a baseball museum at historic Rickwood Field and revitalizing Fair Park.

SEC filed a federal civil suit against Langford, Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre in April 2008, alleging a pay-for-play scheme in county sewer bond deals.

Government announced a 101-count federal criminal indictment Dec. 1, 2008, against Langford, Blount and LaPierre.

In October 2009, Langford was convicted on 60 counts of wrong doing, including bribery, fraud and money laundering related to his time as Jefferson County Commission president. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his crimes.

As he served his prison term, appeals were made to presidents and the federal system for a compassionate release, all denied. Here is his wife Melva in 2015 pleading for his return home.

Al.com columnist Roy Johnson contributed to this story