Federal prosecutors on Monday asked a judge to reject a defense request to bar certain evidence in the case against a man charged with defrauding the Prichard Water Works and Sewer Board.
Larry Knight, a painting contractor hired to do work for the utility that serves Prichard and Chickasaw, is accused of receiving more than $700,000 for allowing his company to be used in fraudulent billing records. He is one of five defendants named in the indictment, which also names former operations manager Nia Malkia Bradley, who has pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
Knight’s attorneys argue that prosecutors intend to present evidence and testimony from “unrelated codefendants and unrelated schemes to defraud the City of Prichard,” maintaining that those defendants have no knowledge of Knight or his dealings with the utility.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office countered in Monday’s filing that actions taken by co-conspirators remain relevant to Knight’s case. “As a part of a conspiracy, the actions taken by co-conspirators are directly relevant — and admissible — as to the charges against Knight,” the filing states. “It is well established precedent that co-conspirators do not have to know each other to be a part of the same conspiracy.”
Prosecutors contend the allegations against Knight are one piece of a larger, multilayered fraud scheme that Bradley and others ran, allegedly with help from at least one board member, to steal money from the financially troubled utility. The total fraud is estimated at about $2.5 million.
Knight’s trial is scheduled for October alongside co-defendant Dejuan Lamar. Bradley is set to be sentenced later that same month.