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Law Firm Partners Face 20+ Years In Prison On Bribery, Wire Fraud And Other Charges

Law enforcement is going after the lawyers as the mastermind of the corruption.

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Two partners at Balch & Bingham, Steven McKinney and Joel Gilbert, have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy in connection with a plot to oppose an environmental cleanup plan in Alabama. Also implicated in the scheme is former Alabama state Rep. Oliver Robinson Jr., who played basketball briefly in the NBA before beginning his political career. Robinson has taken a plea deal on bribery, fraud and tax evasion charges.

The government’s case against McKinney and Gilbert revolves around their representation of Drummond Co. Inc., a coal company, in their efforts to avoid remediation costs in the cleanup of an EPA superfund site. (A Drummond executive, David Roberson has also been indicted in connection with the alleged conspiracy. Roberson is represented by Jones Day.) The pair allegedly directed Balch & Bingham, Drummond and another entity (the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) that law enforcement contends was created by MicKinney, Gilbert and Roberson in furtherance of the scheme) to make payments to Robinson, through his charitable organization, for his support as a public official to oppose efforts to have residents’ homes tested for elevated levels of arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene and lead. As reported by Law.com, the bribes were allegedly made through a series of payments:

The government’s indictment claims that on June 22, 2015, Gilbert instructed Balch & Bingham’s accounting department not to make reference to the Oliver Robinson Foundation on invoices sent to Drummond and to remove references to the nonprofit on two other invoices the firm had already sent its client. McKinney had previously approved a payment request by Gilbert to the firm’s accounting department for a $14,000 check to Robinson’s foundation, according to the indictment.

According to the Department of Justice the payments were laundered through the law firm:

As part of the conspiracy, payments from Drummond and AJE to the Oliver Robinson Foundation were routed through Balch & Bingham. According to the charges, the Oliver Robinson Foundation invoiced Balch & Bingham; Balch & Bingham paid the invoices; Balch & Bingham invoiced Drummond or AJE in an identical amount; and Drummond or AJE promptly paid those amounts to Balch & Bingham.

The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay Town, is going after the lawyers as the mastermind of the corruption:

“McKinney and Gilbert were the brains behind any public or official action taken by Robinson—and why wouldn’t they? They helped Drummond buy him and they were getting what they paid for,” said Jay Town, the newly-appointed Republican U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. “This is the worst type of public corruption. It was all done for the greed of a few and at the expense of so many families and children living in potentially toxic areas.”

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Balch & Bingham, a 230 attorney firm with offices in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia and Washington D.C., has hired W. Warren Hamel of Venable to represent them in the corruption probe. Both of the partners have been placed on indefinite leave — and their profiles are off of the firm’s website. The firm offered this statement on the charges:

“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,” Balch & Bingham said. “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 … 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.”

The charges against the attorneys are serious. McKinney and Gilbert could face up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges, 10 years for the bribery charges and 5 for the conspiracy charges.

UPDATE: Attorneys for Gilbert have provided, in part, the following statement (you can read the full press release here):

Joel Gilbert is innocent of these charges. He did not bribe anyone. This is a case that never should have been brought. Joel represented a client in a legal dispute with the EPA, a powerful and, in this case, over-reaching federal agency. Everything he did while representing that client was lawful and ethical. He is a longtime partner at a leading law firm. A lawyer with a reputation for honesty and integrity, he did what is routine for good counselors to do for corporate and individual clients every day – he engaged a consultant through a written contract to perform real and lawful services.

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headshotKathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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