An Alabama lawmaker, a lobbyist and a California business executive pleaded not guilty in federal court in Montgomery this morning on charges in an alleged bribery scheme.

Rep. Randy Davis, R-Daphne, lobbyist and former state Republican Party chairman Marty Connors and Trina Health founder and CEO G. Ford Gilbert of California appeared together for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry Moorer.

Rep. Jack Williams, R-Vestavia Hills, who was charged in an earlier indictment in the same case, has applied for pretrial diversion.

Williams was not at today's arraignment but his lawyer, Jake Watson, participated by telephone.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has scheduled a trial for Davis, Connors and Gilbert for January.

Connors and Gilbert pleaded not guilty after an April indictment in the same case and have denied wrongdoing. A federal grand jury issued a superseding indictment in July and added Davis as a defendant.

The indictment alleges that Gilbert sought to force or persuade Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama to cover outpatient insulin infusion treatments at Trina Health-affiliated clinics in the state. It alleges that Gilbert gave or offered Davis and former Rep. Micky Hammon selling rights and other gratuities so they would help his company with their political influence and legislation.

Prosecutors say Connors lobbied for Gilbert's legislation while knowing that Gilbert was paying Hammon.

The legislation did not pass and the clinics closed.

Hammon, a Republican from Decatur and the former House majority leader, is not charged. He recently finished a three-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to mail fraud in a case involving the use of campaign funds for personal expenses.

Williams was charged in the April indictment but not in the one issued in July. Williams was accused of helping promote the legislation to help Gilbert's clinics while knowing that Hammon had a financial interest in the clincs. Williams has denied wrongdoing.

The U.S. attorney's office had said earlier it was working with Williams and his lawyer on a resolution to the April indictment before it was revealed in court today that Williams has applied for pretrial diversion. Williams' trial is still scheduled for September, but that date appears unlikely. Moorer asked Watson, the attorney for Williams, to request a later trial date if there is not a decision soon on whether Williams will be accepted into pretrial diversion. Moorer said he did not want jurors called unnecessarily for a September trial date.

Moorer asked lawyers for the other three defendants to file motions by Sept. 10 and scheduled a hearing on motions for Oct. 22.

Richard Jaffe, attorney for Gilbert, spoke to reporters after this morning's arraignment and reiterated what he had said in a statement last week, that Gilbert's actions in Alabama were intended to improve health outcomes in a state with a high diabetes rate, not to enrich himself.

The defendants could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.

This story was updated to say that the defendants pleaded not guilty and add other information.