By Verna Gates
TUSCALOOSA, Alabama (Reuters) - The former mayor of Alabama's largest city, Birmingham, was sentenced on Friday for his role in corrupt bond deals that threaten to mushroom into a massive U.S. bankruptcy case.
Larry Langford, a 63-year-old Democrat, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors had sought a term of at least 24 years after Langford's conviction on an array of fraud and bribery charges last year.
"I'm not interested in who I make happy or don't make happy," said Federal Judge Scott Coogler as he pronounced the sentence.
In addition to his time behind bars, Langford was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to pay nearly $367,000 (242,484 pounds) in financial penalties.
The case highlighted corrupt dealings that played a role in the accumulation of Jefferson County's multibillion-dollar sewer debt, which could lead to the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
The county surrounding Birmingham is engaged in a long-running struggle to renegotiate its debt and avoid bankruptcy.
Langford, who was removed from office after his conviction in October, presided over the Jefferson County Commission during the height of a series of variable rate auction and bond swaps that led to the run-up of the $3.2 billion debt.
He was convicted of steering friends into the bond deals in exchange for bribes.
Interest payments on the deals ballooned in February 2008 when ratings agencies downgraded bond insurers.
Langford, who is African-American, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and blamed racism and the media for his conviction last year.
In brief comments to reporters on Friday, he said he planned to appeal.
"The court spoke today but it is not over," he said.
Despite Langford's lower-than-expected prison term, George Martin, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, said prosecutors were pleased with the outcome.
"This is the longest sentence for a white-collar criminal we have received," Martin said.
(Writing by Tom Brown, Editing by Andrew Hay)
