John Katopodis - Guilty

The former Birmingham City Councilman was found guilty on all 97 counts this morning! Not terribly shocking. The evidence that was public leading up to the trial made it sound conclusive. I remember a group Katopodis formed back in the 80's, The Council of Cooperating Governments, which planned to build an International Airport in Alabama. I always felt the Council's primary goal was to provide employment...for him. On radio I nicknamed it the "Guy Hunt Airport", and I was so sure it would never happen I promised to lay down on the runway the first day of operations. The computers-for-kids effort had a similar feel. Some of the figures involved in this case have long histories...Katopodis and Langford were both 1979 candidates for Mayor against incumbent David Vann. The winner was Richard Arrington, who became the first black mayor of the city. Now the big question is what happens to Scrushy and Langford, who were also involved in that computer "charity". Will Katopodis agree to cooperate with the prosecution to lessen his sentence? Scrushy's already in jail for a long time...will he agree to testify against Langford to avoid even more time behind bars? There will no doubt be an appeal of this morning's verdict, and let's not forget they are all innocent until proven guilty, of course. As it should be.