BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge late Tuesday sentenced the former CEO of Adams Produce Company to 16 months in prison for fraud against the company, failure to report a felony against the government and failure to file federal income tax returns, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr. and IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge Veronica Hyman-Pillot.
Scott David Grinstead, 45, chief executive officer of the now-defunct Adams Produce company, pleaded guilty to the charges in April. Grinstead agreed, as part of his plea agreement with the government, to pay $450,000 in restitution to the bankruptcy estate of Adams Produce to benefit the company’s employees who lost pay when Adams closed abruptly and filed for bankruptcy in 2012. As part of Grinstead’s sentence, U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre ordered him to perform 20 hours of community service.
“This defendant, while CEO of Adams Produce, allowed officers and employees to continue cheating the government on contracts involving military bases and schools while, at the same time, he continued to steal from the company,” Vance said. “Prison is deserved punishment for his criminal acts, which harmed the government and his company, but we also are pleased that resolution of this case will bring some compensation to the employees who lost their jobs and did not receive their final paychecks from Adams Produce,” she said.
“Financial fraud at this company harmed employees, customers and U.S. taxpayers,” Schwein said. “The FBI remains committed to investigating corporate fraud and seeing its perpetrators brought to justice.”
“Individuals who earn income should accurately report their income to the IRS,” Hyman-Pillot said. “The sentence today should reassure Americans that those individuals who willfully and intentionally violate their known legal duty of filing and paying their fair share of taxes will be prosecuted.”
Three other officials of Adams Produce – David Andrew Kirkland, Christopher Alan Pfahl and Stanley Joel Butler II – have been charged and pleaded guilty, and another employee, Michael John O’Brian, was indicted in August in connection with fraud at the Birmingham-based company that had been a leading distributor of fresh fruits and vegetables across the Southeast for decades. Adams Produce was founded as a family-owned business more than 100 years ago. The family sold the company to executives and a private equity firm in 2010.
The federal government, through the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia, was one of Adams’ customers. The supply center contracted with Adams Produce to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to military bases, public schools systems, junior colleges and universities. Adams Produce entered into contracts with the government worth millions of dollars, according to court records.
Kirkland, O’Brien, Butler and Pfahl conspired to create false records that reflected a higher purchasing cost for fruits and vegetables from a national distributor than Adams Produce actually paid. The inflated costs were presented to the government, which had agreed to pay a certain amount over Adams’ cost for produce.
Between Aug. 4, 2011, and Dec. 7, 2011, the Adams’ employees and officers conspired to conduct at least 82 transactions with the national distributor that were designed to create false invoices and purchase orders. Through those false invoices submitted to the Defense Supply Center, Adams Produce fraudulently received about $481,000 from the government.
One of the charges Grinstead pleaded guilty to is misprision of a felony for knowing of the fraud that other officers were engaged in and allowing it to continue and end slowly, so as to avoid raising red flags with the government, rather than stopping it immediately and reporting it to authorities.
Grinstead pleaded guilty to wire fraud for wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Adams Produce account to American Express to pay for clothing, jewelry, personal travel for himself and his family, lawn care at his home, and items for a house on Lake Martin.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to file a federal tax return, one for 2009 and one for 2010. According to court records, Grinstead had a gross income of about $748,801 for the 2009 calendar year and willfully failed to file an income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. In 2010, he received about $1,878,700 in gross income and willfully did not file a return with the IRS.
The FBI and the IRS investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney George A. Martin Jr. is prosecuting it.
Federal Grand Jury Indicts Lee County Man for Five North Alabama Robberies

BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury has indicted a Lee County man for a string of bank robberies in North Alabama in January, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
A five-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Jimmy Dawson Cunningham Jr., 38, of Salem, Ala., with five bank robberies between Jan. 3 and Jan. 14. He is charged with the following robberies: National Bank of Commerce, Shades Creek Parkway, Birmingham, Jan. 3; PNC Bank, Euclid Avenue, Mountain Brook, Jan. 8; First Community Bank, Marktplatz Center, Cullman, Jan. 10; Regions  Bank, Culver Road, Mountain Brook, Jan. 10; and Union State Bank, Pelham Parkway, Pelham, Jan. 14.
Cunningham could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.
The FBI, in conjunction with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain Brook, Cullman and Pelham police departments, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph P. Montminy is prosecuting the case.
The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges. It will be the government’s responsibility to prove the defendant’s guilt at trial.

Federal Charges Brought against 11th Person in Scheme to Defraud BP Oil Spill Claims Fund

BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury has indicted a Birmingham woman as part of a conspiracy to fraudulently take money from funds established to pay claims from individuals and businesses harmed by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.
The indictment of Felicia Youngblood, 25, brings to 11 the number of people in North Alabama to face federal charges for conspiring to participate in a scheme to defraud the oil spill claims funds. Youngblood is the second person indicted by a federal grand jury. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has charged nine others this year and those nine have pleaded guilty to taking part in the conspiracy.
British Petroleum, which owned the Macondo oil well where the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded, established the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in June 2010 for the purpose of administering and settling claims resulting from the oil spill disaster. A subsidiary of BP established the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Trust Fund in August 2010 to pay certain types of claims and expenses from the oil spill, including claims settled through the GCCF.
The four-count indictment of Youngblood charges her with the conspiracy to submit false claims to the GCCF in the summer of 2011 that resulted in her receiving payments of $39,293 and $28,332. The indictment also charges Youngblood with mail fraud, prohibited monetary transactions and wire fraud.
According to the indictment, Youngblood carried out the fraud as follows:

Youngblood provided personal information to co-conspirators that was used to prepare and submit false claims of lost earnings to the GCCF. The false claims caused the GCCF to mail a $39,293 check to Youngblood and to wire a separate payment of $28,332 to Youngbloods’ bank account. At the direction of co-conspirators, Youngblood used the $39,293 check on July 25, 2011, to obtain two cashier’s checks of $17,146 each and $5,000 cash. She endorsed the cashier’s checks and gave them to a co-conspirator. On Aug. 4, 2011, Youngblood, at the direction of a co-conspirator, withdrew $10,000 of the $28,332 that had been electronically deposited into her account and gave the money to the co-conspirator.

The FBI is investigating these cases. Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Cornelius is prosecuting the cases.

The public is reminded than an indictment contains only charges. It will be the government’s responsibility to prove the defendant’s guilt at trial.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Birmingham Legal Secretaries Association named Robert R. Baugh, shareholder with Sirote and Permutt, P.C., as Lawyer of the Year at the 2013 Legal Professionals Reception at the offices of Baker Donelson on October 10.
Mr. Baugh is currently the President of the Birmingham Bar Association. His practice areas include insurance, business, and products liability, and he counsels businesses and business owners on intellectual property matters as well as labor and employment law. His appellate practice includes cases before the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
Mr. Baugh’s selection as Lawyer of the Year recognizes not only his professional achievements, but also his dedicated commitment to his staff and family.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Gregory Eubanks, a consulting specialist with more than 15 years in the fundraising and development industry, is celebrating the opening of Eubanks Development Solutions located in The EDGE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Eubanks Development Solutions assists for profit businesses and nonprofit organizations in planning, organizing and conducting successful capital campaigns by providing the necessary tools to identify, cultivate, solicit, track, and recognize prospects, donors and volunteers.
Eubanks Development Solutions also provides experienced planned giving counsel to assist individuals and their families in developing and executing a comprehensive, systematic, and sustained approach to planned giving.
“With Eubanks you can count on fundraising consultants who care. Whether it’s a national fundraising campaign, Southern giving, or a regional or local campaign, Eubanks Development Solutions can help you raise more money,” said Baron Coker of Making Our Way Better, Union City, Ga. “They provided fundraising counsel for our capital campaign and our  annual fund drive.”
In addition to capital campaign and planned giving expertise, Eubanks Development Solutions also offers consultation in prospect research —providing information needed to make well-informed and well-timed solicitations of individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Eubanks cut his teeth as a development officer at the University of Southern Mississippi where he served first as the Executive Director: Presbyterian Student Center and later as Associate Vice President for Development and Church Relations at Stillman College. During this appointment, Eubanks regenerated the previously dormant annual fund drive utilizing a six-step workload to outcome strategy. He also presented proposals to businesses, foundations, government sources, churches and individuals and managed public and private foundation gifts. Eubanks was part of a fundraising team that generated over $19 million for capital projects, $1.5 yearly for operations and over $60 million in grants and contracts over a 5-year period.
Eubanks earned a B.A. from Stillman and attended Alabama A&M University. He went on to Princeton Seminary to earn a Master’s degree. Eubanks actively pursues continuing education opportunities in the area of grantsmanship and fundraising. He participated in the Federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Evaluability Assessment for Non-profits (2005-2007, Washington, DC), The Whaley Company’s Major Gift Prospecting Toolbox (2005, 2012, Atlanta, Georgia), and the Federal Department of Labor/Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s The Good and the Bad: New and Emerging Markets Tax Credits workshop (2010, Washington, DC).
“We are open for business and looking forward to doing well by doing good”, Eubanks said.
Eubanks Development Solutions is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. in The EDGE Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation located at 800 22nd Avenue  Tuscaloosa, AL 35401.

Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve’s Board of Directors announces the appointments of four new staff members joining the team in October 2013. 

Kimberly Jeanty has been named the Interim Executive Director. She brings her knowledge of financial stability and her ability to look ‘outside the box” for ideas that will further Ruffner’s mission and help to build consistent income streams for the future.  Relocating to the Magic City from South Florida in 2009, Kimberly is using her strengths to enhance Ruffner Mountain’s relationship with the neighborhoods surrounding the “Mountain” and to bring a clear, cleaner focus to the importance of preservation and land acquisition, restoring some of the mountain’s landmarks and creating new programs for the public. She has nearly 20 years of experience in nonprofits, government agencies and Fortune 500 corporations and most recently served the Honorable Councilor Kim Rafferty, Birmingham City Councilor District 2, as Neighborhood Liaison. She is the architect of the Bank on Birmingham initiative and enjoyed working closely with the neighborhood associations of District 2 on their revitalization efforts. Besides being a board member of the East Lake Arts District, Kimberly also serves as an adviser to the East Lake Community Development Corporation or Blight Club, member of East Lake Merchant Group and volunteers with various other organizations throughout the city. Kimberly, her husband, Peter, and daughter, Taylor, have made Birmingham their “adopted” hometown.

 Julia Ann Fleming has been appointed to the position of Director of Development and Communications. Bringing over 25 years of executive nonprofit experience, Julia Ann has been a consultant to regional and national nonprofits for the past 10 years. Her experience ranges from institutions such as Vulcan Park
Foundation, Pathways, Birmingham International Center and Discovery Children’s Museum in Nevada to development and marketing positions with Alabama Public
Television Foundation, McWane Science Center, Miami City Ballet, The Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Carnegie Hall and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.  She holds a Specialist Certificate in Multiple Arts and a Masters in Music Education from Indiana University and a Bachelors of Music from Rhodes College.

Lindsey Darby comes to Ruffner as the Administrative Coordinator from the Birmingham Zoo where she worked with native species in the Children’s Zoo. She has worked as a naturalist on the “Mountain” since 2012. In 2010, she started the bio diversity survey for the North Alabama Land Trust in Huntsville and holds a BS in Environmental Science from Nova Southeastern University.

Patrick Daniel joined the staff as the Land Manager coming from his own company that consulted and sold landscape designs and installations. He was the initial Curator of the Kaul Wildflower Garden at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens for over two years and has many relationships with nurserymen and plant enthusiasts across the state. As an Alabama native, his experience, background and understanding of the land, plants and environment are already providing the kind of care our “Mountain” needs.

BIRMINGHAM – A federal judge today sentenced a former assistant professor at Jacksonville State University to five years in prison for attempting to receive child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Raymond R. Parmer Jr. and Alabama Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Commander Jeremy Lett.

U.S. District Judge L. Scott Coogler sentenced JONATHAN MARK HERBERT, 39, of Jacksonville, and ordered him to serve 10 years of supervised probation following his five years in prison. Herbert also must register as a sex offender. Herbert pleaded guilty in January to one count of attempting to receive child pornography. U.S. Marshals took him into custody following today’s hearing.

According to court documents, Herbert attempted to receive images of child pornography over the Internet in August 2012 from a 14-year-old girl, who turned out to be an undercover police officer. He also drove to a Birmingham shopping center where he planned to meet the 14-year-old for sex.

The Alabama Department of Public Safety’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and HSI investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joe Montminy and Daniel Fortune prosecuted.