House Speaker Mike Hubbard convicted on 12 ethics charges

OPELIKA – A Lee County jury Friday evening found House Speaker Mike Hubbard guilty on 12 of 23 ethics charges, triggering his automatic removal from office and bringing a sudden end to a political career that helped give Republicans complete control of state government.

Hubbard faces 2 to 20 years in prison on each charge and a maximum $30,000 fine. His sentencing is set for July 8.

"The jury made a statement tonight," Acting Attorney General W. Van Davis said at a press conference after the verdict Friday. Davis added that he felt the verdict vindicated his office's decision to prosecute Hubbard, especially in light of pretrial allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.

David McKnight, part of Hubbard's legal team, said he felt he had disappointed Hubbard, and that defense counsel planned to appeal.

"Mike Hubbard is a good man," McKnight said. "We will prevail through the appeals process."

The verdict came after seven hours of deliberation and a 13-day trial. Prosecutors said Hubbard used his offices as speaker -- and previously as Alabama Republican Party chairman -- to solicit jobs and investments from lobbyists and those who employ them, and steer funds toward businesses in which he had an interest. Hubbard's attorneys argued that the transactions were all proper, and that many fell under a friendship exemption in the state's ethics law.

The removal of Hubbard leaves state government in an uncertain position at a difficult time. Gov. Robert Bentley is under investigation over accusations he misused state resources to pursue an affair, while Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore faces removal over an order he gave about same-sex marriage licenses in January.

The state's budget is in a realm of uncertainty. Alabama Medicaid -- which covers more than 20 percent of the residents in the state --  says it needs an ad additional $85 million to function, and no solutions have been offered.

Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, who recused himself from the prosecution of Hubbard in January 2013, said in a statement the verdict was a "good day for the rule of law in our state."

Hubbard's conviction makes Speaker Pro Tem Victor Gaston, R-Mobile, the acting speaker. In a statement, Gaston said he would keep Hubbard and his family in his prayers "as he begins this next, most difficult chapter in his life."

"The Alabama House is not defined by the actions of any one member, it is defined by the motto that appears on the wall of our Chamber, 'Vox Populi,' which means 'Voice of the People,'" the statement said.  "This incident, no matter how regrettable, offers strong proof that the ethics reforms passed by the Legislature in 2010 remain among the toughest in the nation."

Bentley spokeswoman Yasamie August said Friday evening the governor had no comment. House Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, called it a "dark day in Alabama."

"Mike Hubbard led Republicans to a supermajority on a platform of cleaning up corruption in Montgomery," he said in a statement. "But instead of cleaning up corruption, Mike Hubbard and the Republican leadership in all three branches of our government have embraced corruption."

First elected to the Alabama House of Representatives in 1998, Hubbard became chairman of the Alabama Republican Party in 2007, and helped design a plan that in 2010 gave the GOP control of the state Legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. With strong and frequently tough leadership, Hubbard managed to run the chamber almost unchallenged for the first four years in his position.

But rumors of grand jury investigation into Hubbard began circulating in Montgomery circles in the summer of 2013. In Oct. 2014, the Auburn Republican was indicted on 23 counts of:

• Steering Republican Party advertising and printing business to his businesses, including Craftmaster Printers, an Auburn-based firm in which Hubbard holds a partial interest, while chairman of the party from 2007 to 2011. 
• Using his office as speaker to secure consulting contracts — some worth as much as $12,000 a month — and of soliciting lobbyists, including former Gov. Bob Riley, for jobs or investments.
• Inserting language in a General Fund budget that would have benefitted the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. (APCI), a consulting client, and later voting for that budget.
• Lobbying Bentley and Alabama Secretary of Commerce Greg Canfield on behalf of clients.

In closing arguments Friday, lead defense attorney Bill Baxley used a posterboard-sized piece of paper to walk jurors through each of the charges, crossing each one off after he explained why each held no merit. Baxley argued that the prosecutors on the case are a “crusading people,” who are “on a mission and have an ax to grind.”

Much of the defense’s pretrial tactics relied on attempting to get the case thrown out on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. Those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

Defense attorney Lance Bell indicated something similar on Thursday, saying that Hubbard was singled out because of accusations that he was abusing his position for the sake of personal gain.

Davis, rebutting Baxley, challenged his suggestion of selective prosecution.

“We’re prosecutors on behalf of the people of Alabama,” Davis said. “We didn’t bring these charges. A Lee County jury made up of 18 people brought these charges. When (defense counsel) tells you bureaucrats are prosecuting Mike Hubbard, that’s incorrect.”

Closing arguments began Thursday, with Deputy Attorney General Michael Duffy depicting Hubbard as a citizen legislator who used his office to line his pockets and knowingly violate ethics laws.

Investigations into Hubbard’s actions reach back to 2012 when Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead commissioned an audit to examine party spending when Hubbard was GOP chairman.

The Alabama Attorney General's office subpoenaed the party report, which eventually led to Hubbard’s 23-count indictment in 2014.

“He was selling his office,” Duffy told jurors Thursday afternoon. “He just put a ‘For Sale’ sign in front of the speaker’s office.”

Then, in the span of four hours' worth of closing arguments, attorneys attempted to summarize the legal switchbacks surrounding almost a decade’s worth of alleged collusion that began when Hubbard became GOP chairman in 2007.

Prosecutors say that during his time as chairman, Hubbard used his office to steer GOP advertising and printing business to the Auburn Network, his consulting firm, and Craftmaster Printers Inc., an Auburn-based printing firm in which Hubbard held a partial interest.

“There is no testimony that Mike Hubbard ever told anyone directly they had to use Craftmasters,” Baxley said. “There is evidence that (The Alabama Republican Party) was using it long before Mike Hubbard was ever Chairman of the Board.”

Defense counsel has previously argued that using Craftmaster Printers Inc. saved the party money, and delivered dependable service.

Davis called this argument absurd.

Hubbard is also accused of using his office to obtain a $12,000-a-month consulting contract with the Southeast Alabama Gas District (SEAGD), as well as soliciting lobbyists for jobs or investments.

“Not only did (Hubbard) not use the mantle of his office to get a contract with (SEAGD), (SEAGD) contacted him,” Baxley said.

“We’re not here because Mike Hubbard had consulting contracts,” Davis responded during his closings. “That’s not illegal. What is illegal is how you used those.”

Prosecutors have argued throughout trial that once Hubbard secured the SEAGD contract, he then used his position as speaker to lobby Gov. Robert Bentley and Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield to support SEAGD projects. Defense attorneys have said the kind of economic development that the SEAGD was seeking would have been impossible without the governor’s input.

Baxley defended Hubbard’s solicitation of lobbyists, such as former Gov. Bob Riley, for jobs or investments by referring back to a friendship exemption provided by the ethics laws.

“The friendship section clearly applies," Baxley said. “I can’t believe (the prosecution is) getting up here with a straight face, and telling you to let (former Alabama Ethics Commission director) Jim Sumner define whether Mike Hubbard and Bob Riley are friends. You’re the one to decide that.”

Sumner was also targeted during the defense’s Thursday closing, when Bell called him the “one witness that was not good for us” and accused him of “being one of them,” referring to prosecutors. The former Ethics Commission director had previously testified that Hubbard consulted him on some business but did not disclose all his contracts to him.

The final point attorneys addressed was Hubbard’s role in allegedly attempting to give the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc. (APCI), one of his consulting clients, an advantage on the market by introducing language into the 2014 General Fund budget that would have made them the only firm able to bid for the state’s Medicaid program.

He voted for a version of the budget that included the language, but the language ultimately came out of the final budget.

“If the Speaker of the House doesn’t vote for the budget, it’s just a bad sign,” Baxley said. “Mike explained to you how that unfolded. At the time he cast that vote he knew it was going to go to conference committee, and he knew he’d take action to ensure whatever (language) they were worried about came out.”

While testifying in his defense Thursday, the speaker said he didn’t want to offend members of the Legislature who worked on the 2014 budget.

“It would be an affront to them if I didn’t vote for the budget, knowing full well if there was a problem we would fix it in conference,” he said.

Similar his Craftmaster Printers Inc. response, Davis called this reasoning “ridiculous.”

“All Hubbard had to do was not vote,” Davis said. “But he didn’t ... you figure out why he voted. He voted because he had an APCI contract which he had not even told his most confident people about.”

Following closing arguments, Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker instructed the jury on the law for almost two hours before they began to deliberate.

The breakdown of the charges are as follows:

1.  Steering AL GOP money to Craftmaster: Not guilty

2.  Steering AL GOP money to Auburn Network: Not guilty 

3. Steering AL GOP money to Craftmaster through Majority Strategies: Not guilty

4. Steering AL GOP money to Auburn Network through the Howe Group, which later became SRM Media 

5. Voting for General Fund budget that would have benefited APCI: Guilty.
6. Using public office to solicit APCI contract: Guilty.
7. Using office to solicit consulting contract with SEAGD: Not guilty.
8. Lobbying the Alabama Department of Commerce on behalf of SEAGD: Not guilty.
9. Lobbying Gov. Robert Bentley  to support SEAGD projects: Not guilty.
10. Using office to solicit a contract from Edgenuity: Guilty.
11. Using public office to solicitcontract from Capitol Cups: Guilty.
12. Lobbying Department of Commerce for Capitol Cups contract: Guilty.
13. Lobbying Gov. Robert Bentley for Capitol Cups contract: Guilty.
14. Additional Capitol Cups contract: Guilty

15. Soliciting Dax Swatek for a Craftmasters investment: Not guilty.
16. Soliciting & receiving $150K for Craftmasters from Will Brooke: Guilty.
17. Soliciting & receiving $150K for Craftmasters from Jim Holbrook: Guilty.
18. Soliciting & receiving $150K for Craftmasters from Jimmy Rane: Guilty.
19. Soliciting & receiving $150K for Craftmasters from Rob Burton: Guilty.
20. Soliciting Auburn Network clients from Bob Riley: Not guilty.
21. Soliciting consulting assistance from Minda Riley Campbell: Not guilty.
22. Soliciting Auburn Network clients from Bill Canary: Not guilty
23. Soliciting Auburn Network clients from Will Brooke: Guilty.

Updated at 6:32 a.m. to correct Count 6. Charge was soliciting a thing of value from the American Pharmacy Cooperative Inc., not lobbyist Ferrell Patrick.