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         UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Litigation Release No. 15271 / February 28, 1997    

SEC v. Louis Bethune, Charles L. Howard and John Jackson
Civil Action No. CV 95-B-2509-S

     The Securities and Exchange Commission announced today that
on February 20, 1997, the Honorable Sharon Lovelace Blackburn,
United States District Judge for the Northern District of
Alabama, entered a final judgment of permanent injunction against
defendant Charles L. Howard ("Howard"), enjoining him from
violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section
10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5
thereunder.  Upon sworn representations of a financial inability
to pay a fine, no civil penalties were imposed.
     Howard consented to the relief without admitting or denying
the allegations set forth in a complaint filed by the Commission
on September 29, 1995.  The complaint alleged that Howard, along
with codefendants Louis Bethune and John Jackson, violated the
antifraud provisions of the securities laws in the offer and sale
of municipal bonds, the proceeds of which were to be used for
downtown redevelopment projects in White Hall, Alabama. Howard
and codefendant Bethune persuaded city officials to allow them to
sell the bonds at face values disproportionate to the costs of
the projects being funded by the bonds.  The complaint also
alleged that Howard and his codefendants misrepresented to
investors that the bonds were backed by "Prime Bank Securities." 
In fact, none of the bonds offered for sale by Howard were ever
guaranteed or secured by any financial instrument which could be
described as a prime bank security.