Ethanol investors convicted in bribe scheme: face five years in prison, $250,000 fine

In North Carolina, David Lee Brady, 76, of Raleigh and James Albert Perry, 62, former investors in Agri-Ethanol Products, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to give nearly $200,000 in cash and consulting fees to a then-state employee to expedite an air quality permit for an ethanol plant. Each faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two were convicted of agreeing to give $196,000 to a state environmental regulator, Boyce Allen Hudson.

Hudson pleaded guilty last year to extortion and money-laundering and received a 40-month prison sentence. Hudson then accelerated their air permit, completing the permit process for the $220 million project in 29 days. Hudson received $20,000 from the investors and $15,000 from an undercover FVBI agent after a potential investor in Agri-Ethanol had raised the alarm over the scheme.

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