For some non-local news, there’s an interesting scandal brewing in Alabama. It involves a janitor named Lorenza Hooks at the State House in Montgomery who was busted in 2006 after video footage showed him carrying a backpack (which he admits was his) containing two pounds of marijuana (which he claimed was not his) into a legislator’s office. Not only was Hooks not charged, but he kept his job. Eighteen months later, in May 2008, he became a suspect in a shooting and was put on leave from his job. This May, as the Legislative Council debated whether to reinstate Hooks, a legislator learned about the backpack incident and raised it as an issue, causing him to receive death threats. No reference to the incident was found in his personnel file. After failing to be given his job back, Hooks was arrested earlier this month on drug charges.
Loretta Nall is trying to figure out what the hell is going on.
Sounds like someone paid the janitor to plant the pot in Rep. Bobby Humphryes’ office.
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That’s possible. It’s also possible that the janitor put the backpack in the wrong office. Or it’s possible that the janitor never meant to deliver the backpack to anyone and was just storing it someplace for the day while he was at work. I don’t know. But other aspects of how this all unfolded certainly suggest a cover-up of some sort.
I hope this story gets some coverage this week by some reporters with time to investigate this. I’m intrigued by the story.