So, what was the going rate for a Defensive Lineman at SPuat?

The Prowler · « **on:** July 30, 2009, 09:20:14 PM »

Wasn't it somewhere around $200,000? Here's an interesting story. Hmmmm

Quote

Birmingham sister, brother sentenced to prison for stealing $250,000 from Barber Dairy Co.
Posted by Robert K. Gordon -- Birmingham News July 30, 2009 4:04 PM
A Birmingham woman (Robin Lee Jones, mother of former SPuat DT Dominic Lee) told a judge Thursday that officials at Barber Dairy Co. allowed her to use a company credit card in exchange for steering her son to play football at the University of Alabama.

U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler (graduate of SPuat and is based in Tuscalooser) dismissed the claim by Robin Lee Jones and sentenced her to four years in prison for stealing $250,000 from the company. Coogler sentenced Jones' brother, Robert Lee, to 23 months in prison.

Both are responsible for paying $256,963 in restitution and must serve three years' supervised release after their prison terms are served.

Jones worked for eight years at the dairy company and oversaw the company's Fuelman credit card system.

Each company driver has a card to make purchases for vehicle items such as fuel. Jones had no card for her personal use, the plea agreement said. The card was used to make diesel fuel purchases for RJ Trucking, company owned by Jones and Lee.

The card was also used for repairs on cars owned by Jones and her family, court records show.

Coogler said Jones' claim of an agreement between her and the company was out of bounds.

"If she isn't guilty, then she shouldn't have pleaded guilty," Coogler said, adding it was too late to re-open the case.

Jones' son, Dominic Lee, was a defensive tackle for Alabama from 2003 to 2006 (and Andre Smiff's cousin).

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/07/a_birmingham_woman_told_a.html

Kaos · « **Reply #1 on:** July 30, 2009, 09:31:04 PM »

Nothing will ever come of this, but at least FINALLY we have some actual fire and not just a big puff of smoke.

I wish they'd do something, but we all know this will be swept under the rug or buried in the back yard.

RWS · « **Reply #2 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:01:21 PM »

Hey, I wonder if this PLOI will be sent with the Gadsden PLOI....? Anyway, something tells me if things were actually as she said then she wouldn't have pled guilty to the charge. I don't think I would plead guilty to theft of $250,000 when it wasn't theft. But hey, thats just me. Even during a bond hearing if you are given the option of signing a guilty plea, they will not let you plead guilty if you sit there and say "I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm going to plead guilty."

Argo · « **Reply #3 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:16:10 PM »

Had Dominic Lee sustained a spot in the starting rotation while at Alabama, maybe the "officials" at Barber's wouldn't have felt ripped off and had her prosecuted.

$250,000 doesn't go as far as it once did, but it goes further than a handful of starts and a few tackles.

Argo · « **Reply #4 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:26:10 PM »

Also, the few games he was productive in were vacated. So it doesn't count.

Snaggletiger · « **Reply #5 on:** July 30, 2009, 10:55:52 PM »

Quote from: Argo on July 30, 2009, 10:26:10 PM

Also, the few games he was productive in were vacated. So it doesn't count.

Nice hustle

Kaos · « **Reply #6 on:** July 30, 2009, 11:29:30 PM »

Quote from: runswithscissors on July 30, 2009, 10:01:21 PM

Hey, I wonder if this PLOI will be sent with the Gadsden PLOI....? Anyway, something tells me if things were actually as she said then she wouldn't have pled guilty to the charge. I don't think I would plead guilty to theft of $250,000 when it wasn't theft. But hey, thats just me. Even during a bond hearing if you are given the option of signing a guilty plea, they will not let you plead guilty if you sit there and say "I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm going to plead guilty."

Nothing will ever come of it, but you can bet everything you own that what this lady said was true. She just had no way of backing it up.

The judge threw out her statements. What else was she going to do but plead out and hope for leniency?

You, of all people, should know that innocent people plead guilty all the time.

Argo · « **Reply #7 on:** July 30, 2009, 11:57:54 PM »

Quote from: Kaos on July 30, 2009, 11:29:50 PM

Nothing will ever come of it, but you can bet everything you own that what this lady said was true. She just had no way of backing it up.

The judge threw out her statements. What else was she going to do but plead out and hope for leniency?

You, of all people, should know that innocent people plead guilty all the time.

Sadly, I agree with this. I bet the "officials" were surprised to see her to funding the gas bill for a trucking company and fixing cars.

I have a fuelman card. You must have a driver ID number AND enter the odometer number before each pump. Easily tracked.

Of course, with her being the "overseer" of the account, it could be easily argued that she purposely took advantage of the system and is simply trying to divert the blame from herself and justify her criminal activities.

Now, I'm going to find LaDarius Owens and offer him free gas on my fuelman card to sign with Auburn. I'll show you AU boys how the "Red Dog" program is supposed to work.

El Guapo · « **Reply #8 on:** July 31, 2009, 08:44:37 AM »

She's just looking for someone to blame, and UA was an easy target.

Buzz Killington · « **Reply #9 on:** July 31, 2009, 09:07:38 AM »

Quote from: El Guapo on July 31, 2009, 08:44:37 AM

She's just looking for someone to blame, and UA was an easy target.

It's just such a shame that people would pick on such an upstanding organization too.

Townhallsavoy · « **Reply #10 on:** July 31, 2009, 12:17:01 PM »

I just posted the article to Rivals' Auburn message board and the Rivals' recruiting board.

RWS · « **Reply #11 on:** July 31, 2009, 03:01:28 PM »

Anybody want to take a stab at then the actual theft started? 2006. I guess they just asked her to wait 4 years before she started using the card. Then, Barber decided to file charges against her and take it to federal court to further sweep it under the rug. Then, she pled guilty to complete the conspiracy. Genius. :eyeroll:

AUChizad · « **Reply #12 on:** July 31, 2009, 03:07:06 PM »

Quote from: runswithscissors on July 31, 2009, 03:01:28 PM

Anybody want to take a stab at then the actual theft started? 2006. I guess they just asked her to wait 4 years before she started using the card. Then, Barber decided to file charges against her and take it to federal court to further sweep it under the rug. Then, she pled guilty to complete the conspiracy. Genius. :eyeroll:

Or 4 years was when her deal had "expired", but she kept using the card...

And as far as the guilty plea, that is the bammer talking point of defense, but that means absolutely nothing.

Townhallsavoy · « **Reply #13 on:** July 31, 2009, 03:39:49 PM »

Did she claim those allegations under oath? She should go to jail for perjury if she's lying.

RWS · « **Reply #14 on:** July 31, 2009, 09:23:47 PM »

Quote from: townhallsavoy on July 31, 2009, 03:39:49 PM

Did she claim those allegations under oath? She should go to jail for perjury if she's lying.

Under oath doesn't mean jack shit to somebody who is guilty as sin in the first place. I'm sure they could get her for perjury if they wanted, but its really no different than somebody who is testifying in their defense and bullshits their way through their testimony. Its usually just marked up to "we don't believe you." In this case, she pled guilty to the charge in the first place so it really doesn't matter that she made up a bullshit excuse. She pleaded guilty to the theft and just put that out there to have a scapegoat basically. Innocent people do not plead guilty in this day and age.

RWS · « **Reply #15 on:** July 31, 2009, 09:25:16 PM »

Quote from: AUChizad on July 31, 2009, 03:07:06 PM

Or 4 years was when her deal had "expired", but she kept using the card...

And as far as the guilty plea, that is the bammer talking point of defense, but that means absolutely nothing.

Seriously? Is that ALL you got? Again, I doubt Barber would want to put all of this out in the open, which filing charges against the woman would do if he did something wrong in the first place. If what she says did actually happen, do you think he thought she wouldn't be screaming that from the rooftops? Keep spinning, Chizad. Its what you do best.

Townhallsavoy · « **Reply #16 on:** August 01, 2009, 11:23:22 AM »

Quote from: runswithscissors on July 31, 2009, 09:23:47 PM

Under oath doesn't mean jack shit to somebody who is guilty as sin in the first place. I'm sure they could get her for perjury if they wanted, but its really no different than somebody who is testifying in their defense and bullshits their way through their testimony. Its usually just marked up to "we don't believe you." In this case, she pled guilty to the charge in the first place so it really doesn't matter that she made up a bullshit excuse. She pleaded guilty to the theft and just put that out there to have a scapegoat basically. Innocent people do not plead guilty in this day and age.

I don't really know enough about the case. What the charge she pled guilty to?

Hypothetical:

"You're accused of improperly using a company card to make personal purchases for yourself which is regarded as theft and carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. How do you plead?"

"Guilty."

"Okay...case closed if you plead guilty to stealing from the company."

"Wait, I used the card, but I was told I could as long as my family member played football at Alabama."

"Yeah, right. If that was true, you shouldn't have pled guilty."

If that's how it went down, then I have no reason to think she wasn't telling the truth. But as I said, I've got no clue how it all went down.

boartitz · « **Reply #17 on:** August 01, 2009, 02:57:12 PM »

Quote from: runswithscissors on July 31, 2009, 09:23:47 PM

Under oath doesn't mean jack shit to somebody who is guilty as sin in the first place. I'm sure they could get her for perjury if they wanted, but its really no different than somebody who is testifying in their defense and bullshits their way through their testimony. Its usually just marked up to "we don't believe you." In this case, she pled guilty to the charge in the first place so it really doesn't matter that she made up a bullshit excuse. She pleaded guilty to the theft and just put that out there to have a scapegoat basically. Innocent people do not plead guilty in this day and age.

I'd come closer to thinking she would be lying if she pleaded innocent. If she already has pled guilty, what is the truth gonna hurt?

Doc · « **Reply #18 on:** August 02, 2009, 10:29:51 PM »

So, let me get this straight. This woman was accused pled guilty to and convicted of stealing. Then after she gets more time than what she thought she then claims, " I didn't steal anything, they let me use it." Yeah, okay, WTF ever.

AUChizad · « **Reply #19 on:** August 03, 2009, 10:14:06 AM »

Quote from: Doc on August 02, 2009, 10:29:51 PM

So, let me get this straight. This woman was accused pled guilty to and convicted of stealing. Then after she gets more time than what she thought she then claims, " I didn't steal anything, they let me use it." Yeah, okay, WTF ever.

Bammers and their limited ability to understand the basic tenants of the justice system... :eyeroll: