Free Republic

A psychologist raised in Frayser and trained in South America, Morgan had been rejected twice by the state's psychology licensing board because of his academic record. But Morgan found a powerful ally in then-state Sen. John Ford, who pushed through legislation that forced regulators to hand Morgan a license to practice, according to an examination by The Commercial Appeal. That carefully tailored 1998 law has privately troubled psychology professionals for years yet remained unknown to the larger public. The newspaper uncovered the matter following Morgan's indictment last month. Federal prosecutors contend Morgan offered Ford money in 2005 for legislation that...

A federal court jury this afternoon acquitted former Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Jr. on charges of taking bribes in 2006 in return for his vote and influence on a development and billboard project. The jury of seven women and five men returned its verdict at about 4 p.m. after deliberating the better portion of two days. As a smiling Ford walked out of the federal court room, he said in a loud voice, “My Lord, the Savior is awesome. He is awesome. I just love my Lord.” Ford, 52, a mortician, was indicted on three counts of extortion...

A federal court jury is scheduled to begin deliberations this afternoon in the extortion and bribery trial of former Memphis City Council member Edmund Ford Sr. Federal prosecutors say the 52-year-old mortician accepted $8,900 in bribes from a political consultant in 2006 for his votes and influence in a development project, removal of a city billboard moratorium and the replacement of the chairman of the Board of Adjustment. “Each of these payments was made for official acts,” federal prosecutor Tom Colthurst told jurors as he showed secretly recorded videos of consultant Joe Cooper giving cash to Ford. “You also see...

Wearing a button-sized hidden camera in his shirt and a recorder taped to his waist, political consultant Joe Cooper passed $100 bills to then-city councilman Edmund Ford Sr. in 2006 while seeking approval for a development project. On the tapes presented Wednesday to a federal court jury, Cooper refers to Ford as "the Godfather" and "the master" and encourages him to "work your magic and just make sure it happens." Testifying as the government's key witness in Ford's extortion and bribery trial, Cooper explained how he regularly got such issues approved by the council for well-heeled developers who employed him....

The FBI called it Operation Main Street Sweeper, a relatively short undercover investigation that yielded several indictments, three guilty pleas to date and one memorable quote. After allegedly accepting a $1,900 bribe in 2006 to line up votes to repeal a billboard moratorium, then-City Councilman Edmund Ford Sr. pocketed the money and confidently declared on a secretly recorded videotape: "I'll drum up seven or make somebody walk out." The strength of the government's case against Ford will be tested this week in a trial before U.S. Dist. Court Judge Samuel Mays Jr. Jury selection from a pool of 105 citizens...

GUEST COLUMN: In addition to universal health care, our next president should create an American Center for Cures -- a cabinet-level authority charged with fighting life-threatening disease. By the time our next president takes the office, 50 million Americans will be living and working without health insurance. By the time he or she seeks re-election, health care costs in the United States will reach $3 trillion -- with medical costs rising twice as fast as workers' wages. For those reasons, health care is at the center of the presidential debate this year. We believe America needs a universal health care...

Former state senator John Ford was assigned to maintenance duty today at the federal prison in Louisiana where he is serving a 5-year prison sentence for bribery. “He will be temporarily assigned to assist the dorm orderlies with sanitation in the dorms,” said Karen Million, spokesman for the Federal Prison Camp at Pollock, La. “After we have a chance to assess his skills, we may assign him to a different job assignment.” Ford, 65, who reported to the camp Monday afternoon, was convicted last year of taking $55,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents in the Tennessee Waltz investigation into...

5 1/2-year sentence is result of bribes taken in Tennessee Waltz sting - MEMPHIS - The Rolex watches, fancy suits and plush hotels are all things of the past for former state Sen. John Ford.Ford, 65, reported Monday to a federal prison camp in Louisiana to begin a 5 1/2-year sentence for taking $55,000 in bribes during the FBI's statewide corruption sting called Tennessee Waltz.Once one of the state's most powerful lawmakers, Ford was known as a flashy dresser with a taste for fine dining and expensive hotels.At the prison camp, he will have half of a double bunk in...

Former state senator John Ford entered the federal prison camp at Pollock, La., at 1:40 p.m. today. Ford, who was convicted last year of accepting $55,000 in bribes as a state legislator, is serving a 5-year at the prison, which is about 400 miles from Memphis. Prison spokesman Karen Million said Ford, prisoner No. 20286-076, will receive an orientation and a medical screening today and will be given a work assignment on Tuesday. Ford was convicted as part of an FBI undercover sting dubbed Operation Tennessee Waltz. He is the 10th defendant to be sent to prison. Two others received...

MEMPHIS, TN - Former State Senator John Ford is scheduled to report to federal prison in Pollock, Louisiana on Monday, April 28, 2008. Ford was convicted in April 2007 on bribery charges; he took more than $55,000 to influence votes in the Tennessee legislature. Ford was indicted during an FBI undercover operation, "Operation Tennessee Waltz," which worked to expose public corruption. The United States Penitentiary in Pollock is a high-security facility in central Louisiana, which houses male offender. A satellite prison camp located next to the main facility houses minimum security offenders. The prison is surrounded by the Kisatchie National...

Its political ranks have thinned, but is there a new crop ahead? In videotaped evidence played at his Tennessee Waltz corruption trial, former state senator John Ford once bragged that he was "the man who makes the deals." For many years, he was also the public face of the Ford family to many Mid-Southerners, a larger-than-life character who had the political skills to back up his overbearing personality. With John Ford scheduled to report to prison Monday, he'll be leaving behind a family facing uncertain political prospects. Harold Ford Sr. and Harold Ford Jr., who represented Tennessee's Ninth Congressional District...

Ford family members elevated the dialogue in Steve Cohen's re-election run, discouraging use of the race card - The ability to lead and the willingness to serve are necessary attributes for a member of Congress. When a congressman continues to lead and serve after leaving office, it's a bonus for constituents. Harold Ford Sr. and Harold Ford Jr., who represented Memphis' 9th Congressional District from 1975 to 2007, gave the 9th District a bonus Saturday when they made it clear that U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen's race and religion should not be factors in his re-election bid. Cohen, who is white,...

Reject racially tinged remarks about Cohen by other Fords - Harold Ford Sr. and Harold Ford Jr. on Saturday rejected racially charged remarks made last week by family members Jake and Isaac Ford. Jake Ford, who is trying to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen in the Ninth Congressional District, filed Thursday to run again for the seat as an independent. In 2006, he ran and lost to Cohen. In remarks published Friday in The Commercial Appeal, Jake Ford blasted Cohen, who is white, and said Tennessee deserves to have at least one black congressman. Democrats Ford Sr. and Ford...

His racially charged rhetoric is tiresome, particularly during a week dedicated to MLK's memory - Maybe it would have been asking too much to expect Jake and Isaac Ford to hold their peace, at least for a couple of days. Jake Ford, who filed qualifying paperwork Thursday to run for the Ninth Congressional District seat as an independent, wasted no time in taking his campaign on a detour down the low road. Jake Ford suggested that incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen is unable to represent the district because Cohen is white and the majority of the district's residents are black....

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen has said he thinks the 9th Congressional District has gotten beyond race in electing its representatives. But independent candidate Jake Ford seemed intent on proving him wrong Thursday. He kicked off the congressional campaign by blasting Cohen, who is white, and saying Tennessee deserves to have at least one black congressman. Still hot from his loss to Cohen in 2006, Ford, younger brother of former congressman Harold Ford Jr., also railed against the news media -- specifically The Commercial Appeal -- for not giving him, or his record, a fair shake in the last election. "This...

Cohen intervenes to request change of prison from Texas to Louisiana -- WASHINGTON -- Former state senator John Ford is going to the big house next month, but after the intervention of U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, it will be much closer to Memphis. Cohen confirmed Thursday that his office made a request to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to look into changing Ford's incarceration from a minimum-security federal-prison camp at La Tuna, Texas, to a similar facility in central Louisiana. Ford, 65, is to surrender to federal authorities next month to begin serving a 5 1/2-year sentence after his conviction...

NASHVILLE -- State Sen. Ophelia Ford answered the Senate's roll call Monday night for the first time since the General Assembly convened Jan. 8. The Memphis Democrat told her colleagues in a brief address upon her return to the Senate floor that she had suffered from a "bleeding ulcer" that took a long time to diagnose, but she's ready to return to work. She had been hospitalized with a previously undisclosed illness off and on since the legislature adjourned last June. Walking slowly with the aid of an aluminum cane, she arrived at her legislative office about an hour before...

NASHVILLE -- State Sen. Ophelia Ford is expected to return to the legislature next week after being absent with an unspecified illness since the session started in January. Ford's temporary assistant, Sherwine Lucien, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the Memphis Democrat had contacted her about booking a flight to Nashville on Monday. "As far as we know, she should be here Monday," Lucien said. Ford has been in and out of the hospital with health issues that have plagued her the past year. The 57-year-old said in March that she had a severe case of anemia that had...

After last week's developments on the campaign trail, it seems highly unlikely that Barack Obama would agree to be Hillary Clinton's vice presidential running mate. But would Harold Ford Jr.? Several days ago, Clinton's campaign floated the idea of selecting Obama as her running mate as a way of keeping Democrats unified in the November election. Obama shot that idea down the day before his win last week in the Mississippi primary. So if Clinton were to win the nomination, where else might she turn to find a running mate who could appeal to Obama's supporters, who include large numbers...

Tamara Mitchell-Ford, who is serving a drunken driving jail sentence in Collierville, was indicted Thursday on two more drunken-driving cases. The 43-year-old ex-wife of former state senator John Ford picked up the cases before she was ordered in November to begin serving 11 months and 27 days for violating her probation on a DUI case from February of last year. In anticipation of the indictments, her attorney, Juni Ganguli, said recently a tentative plea agreement with prosecutors called for Mitchell-Ford to plead guilty to both new DUIs and to be given concurrent sentences of 11 months and 29 days in...