The former finance director for the City of Homewood, Robert Winston Burgett, 64, has been sentenced to 37 months in prison. The sentencing was announced by United States Attorney Prim F. Escalona following Burgett's guilty plea in October 2024 to three counts of wire fraud.
Burgett, a resident of Hueytown, misappropriated close to $950,000 from the city’s bank accounts during his tenure as the finance director. His fraudulent activities spanned from May 2023 to March 2024 and involved moving funds into a commercial bank account under his control and subsequently transferring them to his personal account.
To cover up the embezzlement, Burgett altered bank account statements and falsified journal entries in the city’s accounting records, using the stolen money for personal expenditures.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Homewood Police Department, with assistance from the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts. Assistant U.S. Attorney J.B. Ward was responsible for prosecuting the case.
