By Sherrel Wheeler Stewart
BIRMINGHAM Ala. (Reuters) - A grand jury has indicted Alabama's powerful Republican state house speaker on 23 criminal counts of corruption, court records released on Monday showed.
Mike Hubbard, who helped guide Republicans to majorities in both houses of the Alabama legislature in 2010 for the first time in 136 years, was indicted on Friday on charges that include using his office for personal gain and legislating with a conflict of interest.
According to the indictment, handed down by a grand jury in Lee County, Hubbard solicited favors from a range of powerful Alabamans, including former Governor Bob Riley, a fellow Republican, along with several business leaders.
The charges, which include soliciting things of value, are all Class B felonies, which under state law each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.
Speaking on Monday outside the Lee County Jail, where Hubbard was booked, Mark White, his attorney, said Hubbard would fight the charges, the Alabama Media Group reported.
"We'll be ready to fire back," White said, according to the news organization.
White did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Hubbard, who faces re-election next month in a race he is expected to win, will not have to step down from office over the indictment, said Natalie Davis, a political science professor at Birmingham-Southern University.
The case against Hubbard plays into a perception among many in Alabama that politics in the state is all too often a grubby affair, Davis said.
"There is a sense that money is on the table and everybody wants a piece of it," she said.
(Reporting by Sherrel Wheeler Stewart; Writing by Jonathan Kaminsky in New Orleans; Editing by Mohammad Zargham, Sandra Maler)