A public relations consultant testified this week that he handed back a $10,000 payment tied to work he did for Mobile County License Commissioner Kim Hastie because he considered it “blood money,” part of testimony in the federal corruption trial unfolding in Mobile.
Jon Gray, founding partner of the public relations firm Strategy Inc., told jurors in U.S. District Court that Hastie hired his firm in January 2014 to help coordinate legislation that would let voters decide on a constitutional amendment merging Mobile County’s license and revenue offices statewide. “I didn’t want that blood on my hands,” Gray testified, explaining that he returned the money after learning it may have come from an account not authorized for that purpose.
At the time, Hastie was running unopposed to become Mobile County Revenue Commissioner, a role that would have combined with her existing license commissioner duties. Gray said the merger was central to her campaign message. “This was going to be her accomplishment, to combine the offices and save money,” he told the court. The proposed measure, which would have paid Hastie a $95,000 salary to oversee both offices, ultimately stalled after the Alabama Legislature never brought it to a vote.
Gray testified that his firm returned the payment after an FBI special agent told him the funds had come from an account not authorized for that kind of expenditure, a claim a Mobile County attorney also affirmed. Prosecutors say the money originated from a fund generated by a $1.25 fee added to driver’s license transactions, money intended to cover technology upgrades in the license office. Hastie’s defense has argued the fund had broader allowable uses.
Despite returning the payment, Gray said he did not believe Hastie ever intended to break the law. Under cross-examination, he acknowledged it was unlikely the Mobile County Commission would have hired his firm directly, citing what he described as an “ongoing feud” between Hastie and County Commissioner Jerry Carl, against whom Gray had previously run a political campaign.
Elsewhere in the trial, attorneys for Deputy License Commissioner Ramona Yeager, who faces nine fraud-related charges in connection with the case, asked the court to acquit her, arguing she was not promoted into her role until after the consulting contracts were arranged. Prosecutors countered that Yeager helped conceal altered invoices from the county commission, calling that concealment central to the case against her. The presiding judge said she would consider the request.
State Rep. Margie Wilcox, a longtime supporter of Hastie’s, also testified during the proceedings, telling jurors she viewed the proposed office merger as a sound way to save taxpayer money, underscoring the political backing Hastie’s consolidation plan had before the case became a matter for federal court.