Federal Court Releases County Commissioner Convicted of Fraud

by David Reutter

Citing “age (87) and deteriorating health,” an Alabama federal district court reduced the prison sentence of a former county commissioner convicted of corruption. The court reduced the sentence to time served and ordered his release on supervised release.

Former Jefferson County Commissioner Jewell Chris McNair was among 21 people convicted in the $3 billion sewer scandal in Alabama’s most populous county. McNair was convicted in April 2006 of bribery and conspiracy. He later pleaded guilty to soliciting $140,000 in bribes while overseeing the sewer project.

While appealing his conviction in 2008, McNair suffered a minor stroke. He tried to avoid prison on the grounds of his age and health, but in April 2011 the federal court ordered him to serve a 5-year prison term.

The court relented on August 29, 2013, and ordered McNair’s immediate release once his family could assure his health for allowed travel from a federal prison medical facility in Minnesota to Birmingham. He was released that day.

The release came after the Obama administration requested it on grounds of compassion. McNair, whose daughter Denise was one of three girls killed in the 1963 bombing of a Baptist Church, was freed in time to attend an event to mark the tragic event’s 50^th anniversary.

Meanwhile, the taxpayers in Jefferson County have filed for bankruptcy, struggling to protect themselves from creditors seeking recovery of $4 billion in debt. Most of that debt was due to fraudulent activity by McNair and his co-defendants.

Sources: www.myfoxal.com, Associated Press, www.examiner.com